New strains of ASF emerge in China, research shows

New African swine fever variants have emerged in China, potentially making control of the disease even harder, according to a new study.

Two of the new strains are transmitted more easily between pigs than other strains. They’re less severe than the strain that emerged in the country in 2018, which could make the disease more difficult to detect. Still, other emerging strains are just as deadly as the original variant, Feed Strategy reports.

This comes soon after other reports of new ASF strains in China, which included a natural mutation and mutations resulting from illicit vaccines.

In related news, Malaysia announced it would cull 3,000 wild and domestic pigs after an outbreak of ASF in wild boar and backyard pigs in the state of Sabah in mid-February.

The disease was detected in at least 300 pigs in three districts after a reported case involving the death of a wild boar, according to an alert issued in February by the World Organisation for Animal Health. This was the first discovery of the disease in Malaysia, the alert said.