Low vaccination rate against African swine fever

Between May 14 and June 21, 2024, African swine fever outbreaks were reported in 298 households across 67 hamlets, zones within 25 communes, wards, and 7 districts, towns, and cities (Mong Cai, Dam Ha, Quang Yen, Hai Ha, Tien Yen, Ba Che, Uong Bi) in Quang Ninh province. The widespread outbreak of African swine fever resulted in the death and destruction of 2,035 pigs (approximately 1% of the total herd) with a total weight of nearly 100 tons.

Accordingly, Quang Ninh province's Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health has provided instructions and coordinated with local governments to implement disease prevention measures in response to the rapid development of the outbreak.

Technical officials from the Sub-Department are closely monitoring and supporting local governments, and distributing 460 rapid African swine fever test kits to Quang Yen, Mong Cai, Dam Ha, Hai Ha, and Ba Che for early disease detection and diagnosis.

Local People's Committees have issued official documents announcing the outbreak of African swine fever in affected communes; and requested local residents to promptly and correctly destroy infected pigs in compliance with regulations. Moreover, stakeholders have taken measures to manage outbreak clusters immediately following their detection; and ensure the complete destruction of pig herds after receiving positive test results.

Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee have recently directed efforts to prevent, control, and suppress African swine fever outbreaks through Directive No. 2080-CV/TU dated June 4, 2024, which outlined disease prevention and control measures within the province.

Between April 25 to June 20, 2024, African swine fever outbreaks have been reported across 399 hamlets within 94 communes and 11 districts and cities in Lang Son province. A total of 1,782 households with infected pigs were required to destroy their animal herds, resulting in the destruction of 5,800 pigs with a total weight of over 272 tons.

Subsequently, Lang Son province's Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health have identified inadequate awareness and misunderstanding of the African swine fever among district and commune-level governments as the primary causes for ongoing outbreaks.

In addition, local governments have failed to consistently issue outbreak announcements and implement disease prevention measures in compliance with the Law on Veterinary Medicine, related directives, and guidelines provided by the Prime Minister and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

On the other hand, livestock farmers failed to implement basic veterinary hygiene measures, and maintain biosecurity in the production process. Several households continue to feed pigs with leftover food.

Moreover, local governments have not effectively supervised and promoted legal compliance. The organization of pig destruction and disposal faces significant challenges due to inadequate manpower, insufficient funds for purchasing chemicals and lime powder, renting vehicles, and financing personnel.

Nguyen Nam Hung, General Director of Lang Son province's Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health, emphasized that despite the availability of African swine fever vaccines, vaccination remains a crucial measure that livestock farmers must prioritize. However, as of the first five months of 2024, the vaccination rate against African swine fever in Lang Son has only reached approximately 0.01% of the total pig population.

Results from on-site inspections conducted by the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) in the provinces of Quang Ninh and Lang Son reveal multiple factors contributing to widespread disease transmission and the continued risk of outbreak developments.

Namely, the majority of livestock farmers have failed to implement hygiene, disinfection, detoxification, and biosecurity measures in their production process. Additionally, despite the availability of African swine fever vaccines and notable areas achieving positive results in protecting their pig herds, over 99% of pork-producing pigs in Quang Ninh and Lang Son have not been vaccinated against African swine fever.

In response to this challenge, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recommended local governments to focus on decisively and systematically implementing African swine fever prevention and control measures in compliance with the Law on Veterinary Medicine, related legislative documents, and guidelines provided by the Prime Minister.

Notably, stakeholders must organize African swine fever vaccination campaigns under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's directives outlined in Official Dispatch No. 4870/BNN-TY dated July 24, 2023, and Official Dispatch No. 2560/BNN-TY dated April 9, 2024, which regulate centralized vaccination activities for livestock.

Furthermore, local governments must promptly implement initiatives to enhance and strengthen the capacity of veterinary systems across all administrative levels in compliance with the Law on Veterinary Medicine, directives from the Politburo, the National Assembly, the Government, and the Prime Minister (Decision No. 414/QD-TTg dated March 22, 2021, and Decision No. 889/QD-TTg dated July 25, 2023). These initiatives will contribute to the effective organization and deployment of resources for animal disease prevention and control.

Communes and wards affected by the outbreak in Quang Ninh province have established 22 temporary animal quarantine checkpoints, installed warning signs, and assigned personnel to perform daily surveillance of pigs and pig products travelling through affected areas. Additionally, they have actively engaged in information dissemination and public announcements regarding the risk of disease outbreaks through local loudspeaker systems, thereby assisting livestock farmers in the proactive implementation of disease prevention measures

With the destructive and widespread resurgence of African swine fever in the provinces of Hoa Binh, Hai Phong, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, and Quang Nam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Animal Health issued a series of directives on June 21, 2024, requesting local governments to enhance their African swine fever prevention and control efforts, thereby minimizing losses to the greatest extent possible.