Vietnam May Have to Declare State of Emergency Because of Killer Pig Virus
- About 2.5 million pigs culled to arrest African swine fever
- Outbreak spreads across 87% of Vietnam’s provinces and cities
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A state of emergency may be necessary in Vietnam in response to a killer pig disease that’s spreading across the pork-loving country, slashing hog supplies and causing prices to surge.
The hemorrhagic viral illness has been found in more than 400 districts in 55 Vietnamese provinces and cities, leading to the culling of some 2.5 million hogs since it was discovered in February, Pham Van Dong, head of the Ministry of Agriculture’s animal health department, told Tien Phong newspaper. The African swine fever situation is likely to worsen, and may reach a point where a state of emergency must be declared, the newspaper quoted Dong as saying.