38 tons of pork infected with African swine fever found in Vietnam slaughterhouse

Police in Phu Tho Province on Oct. 21 said Phan Van Phong, 60, was arrested and prosecuted for violating food safety regulations after investigators found five cold storage facilities filled with infected meat at his facility in Vinh Hung Commune. Several slabs of pork and skin had turned discolored and blotchy red.

According to investigators, as ASF spread across local farms earlier this year, many farmers sold or gave away dead or infected pigs at "super-low" prices to cut losses. Traders and slaughterhouse operators, including Phong, allegedly took advantage of the situation: collecting diseased pigs, slaughtering them and freezing the meat in hopes of reselling it later for profit. Some even transported sick pigs from outbreak zones to other areas to evade detection.

Tests by Phu Tho Province's Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries confirmed that all samples taken from Phong's cold storage tested positive for the ASF virus.

African swine fever, which originated in Africa, spreads quickly among pigs and has a near 100% fatality rate. The disease does not infect humans but can be carried and transmitted by people, leading to widespread outbreaks that devastate pig farming and threaten food supply chains.