A total of 17 pigs died of African swine fever at a farm in Tongzhou, Beijing, authorities confirmed Monday.
The Tongzhou district government released a statement on its Wechat account, saying that they found a case of African swine fever at a local farm where 9,835 pigs were kept, and that 17 of them had died.
The government immediately sealed off an area of three kilometers around the farm and culled all the pigs in the area, the statement said.
They intensified the disinfection and management of the farming, slaughtering and delivery process to cut the transmission chain of the virus, and will conduct daily screenings.
They also alerted their counterparts in nearby Tianjian and Hebei Province.
African swine fever is listed as one of the most severe animal diseases in China. Since there is no antidote to the disease, the country culls and disposes of all pigs in the infected area, the Tongzhou government statement said.
But the virus only targets pigs and no evidence shows that eating pork infected by the virus will harm people's health, it added.
The Tongzhou government reiterated that all pork products in the capital are safe due to strict checks.
