China Feed Manufacturer Found With ASF Virus in Feed Supplies

Chinese officials have found the African Swine Fever Virus in some protein powders made from pork blood produced by a Chinese company. The General Administration of Customs issued a statement saying that the raw material in 79.93 tons of contaminated protein products, mainly used in animal feed, came from 12 slaughterhouses. This happened in spite of the fact that Chinese health officials banned the use of food waste and pig blood as a raw material for the production of pig food. Officials implemented the ban in September in an effort to control the spread of the disease. China has already reported more than 90 cases of African Swine Fever virus infection, which is deadly to pigs but doesn’t harm humans. China first detected the disease in its herds back in August. The customs department also has issued an alert, that will last for six months, to strengthen testing for the African Swine Fever virus in exports of similar products. The alert also urges farms in Hong Kong and Macau (Mah-COW) to tighten their checks on animal feed imports.