China to set up regional control system for African swine fever, other diseases

China's agriculture ministry issued a plan on Wednesday to divide the country into five regions to be charged with greater responsibility to prevent and control African swine fever, as well as other animal diseases. The move comes after a severe winter wave of swine fever in the northern region and some provinces, as the incurable disease causes significant losses in the world's largest hog herd.

China's agriculture ministry issued a plan on Wednesday to divide the country into five regions to be charged with greater responsibility to prevent and control African swine fever, as well as other animal diseases.

The move comes after a severe winter wave of swine fever in the northern region and some provinces, as the incurable disease causes significant losses in the world's largest hog herd. The regions will be tasked to ensure timely reporting of disease outbreaks, assess risks, and put forward control policies.

They will also create disease-free zones to make sure that, in principle, no pigs apart from breeding pigs and piglets are moved in or out, the ministry said. China has previously discussed adopting compartmentalization to better control the spread of African swine fever, and from April 1 restricted the movement of hogs across regions.