Woman sells dead pigs with African swine fever to sausage makers amid outbreak

Police in Quang Ngai Province on Friday raided a facility owned by Tran Thi Thuy Duong, 56, in Nghia Hanh Commune that buys pigs on the hoof for selling, and found animals being loaded onto a truck.

They found 69 pigs in the truck, including five that were already dead. Three more sick pigs were found on the premises.

Duong failed to furnish any documentation proving the origin of the pigs or their quarantine.

She admitted to sourcing the pigs from Nghia Hanh, an area currently experiencing an outbreak of African swine fever, and transporting them to Gia Lai and Dong Nai provinces for slaughter and sale to sausage manufacturers.

Authorities randomly collected 22 samples of blood, lymph nodes and spleens for testing and found 21 of them positive for the African swine fever virus.

They immediately worked with local authorities to cull the entire batch of pigs.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, African swine fever is on the rise in Vietnam with 248 outbreaks in 20 out of 34 provinces and cities that have not yet passed the 21-day containment period.

Some 19,700 pigs have been infected, with another 20,280 either dead or culled.

African swine fever spreads rapidly and causes near 100% fatality in pigs.

The virus is found in the blood, organs and secretions of infected pigs, is highly resistant to normal conditions, can withstand low temperatures, and only dies at 70 C.

The disease is transmitted through the respiratory and digestive routes by direct or indirect contact.

While it does not infect humans, people can act as carriers, spreading the virus.