Where does African classical swine fever come from?

In response to the continuous outbreak of African classical swine fever in China, the Ministry of Agriculture and villages made it clear today that the African classical swine fever epidemic in China has been introduced from abroad, and the disease will still show a spotty distribution trend for some time to come, but there is little possibility of an outbreak in the region.

As for the source of the African classical swine fever epidemic in China, it is clear that the disease is imported from abroad. Because before 2018, there was no African classical swine fever in China. Molecular epidemiological studies show that the African classical swine fever virus introduced into China belongs to the gene Ⅱ type, and has about 99.95% homology with the whole genome sequence of the strain published in Georgia, Russia and Poland.

Although there is no clear conclusion, there are clues to point the source of the African classical swine fever epidemic in China to Russia.

Experts say it is possible to infer that during the World Cup in Russia, Chinese people go abroad to watch football matches and buy back meat products that carry the virus from Russia. These meat products are not all eaten, and the rest are turned into swill. Subsequently, pigs were fed with hogwash, causing an epidemic.

At the same time, it should also be pointed out that African classical swine fever has become a global threat since it was first discovered in Kenya in 1921, and even if it does not spread to China through these possible channels, it may come from other routes in the future.

Usually, there are four main ways for the cross-border introduction of African classical swine fever: the first is the international trade and smuggling of live pigs and their products, the second is the pork and its products carried by international tourists, the third is the leftover food and kitchen on the international means of transport, and the fourth is the migration of wild boars.