A major problem with Chinese pigs

Millions of them have died and are still dying from African swine fever. The nation’s stock of live pigs has fallen by a fifth from a year ago. They expect that China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork, will produce 150 million to 200 million fewer pigs this year because of deaths from the infection. Last year 700 million pigs were slaughtered in China.

African swine fever, for which no treatment or vaccine exists, has spread to every Chinese province and region, and has also jumped the border into Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam.