An owner of a hog farm in Qiongjie county, Shannan, Tibet autonomous region, vaccinates a piglet on April 21, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

China's General Administration of Customs and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly issued an announcement on Monday on prohibiting swine and related products from Malaysia in order to prevent the inflow of African swine fever (ASF).

The ASF epidemic was reported in Malaysia for the first time after five outbreaks of ASF were detected, in which five wild boars and 303 domestic pigs were confirmed infected in February, according to World Organization for Animal Health.  

According to Chinese customs law and law on the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine, China prohibits pig, boar and the related products directly or indirectly from Malaysia and forbids posting or carrying those items inbound. Once swine and related products from Malaysia were found in China, rules require them to be returned, sealed or destroyed.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported Tuesday that a case of ASF was detected in a truck on the highway in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. The related people violated regulations of transporting pigs across provinces and carried 10 piglets, among which two were dead and two got ASF. The piglets were all slaughtered and the vehicle, spots and related environment were disinfected afterwards. 

Global Times