Netherlands shares experience in preventing African swine fever in Vietnam

HANOI, Aug 21 -- Veterinary experts from the Netherlands shared experience in preventing African swine fever during a roundtable discussion held in Hanoi today, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

 Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said as of early 2019, Vietnam had about 32 million pigs, the biggest number in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and second in Asia.

 Pig breeding has gradually formed value chains. However, the industry is facing many risks from diseases, especially African swine fever.

 Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Elsbeth Akkerman said in the past, outbreaks of African swine fever had also appeared in the Netherlands, but the country was able to curb the disease in a short span of time.

 Dutch veterinary experts shared experience in the field such as building disease safety zones and using veterinary medicine to control the disease. They also recommended measures to increase the value chain of pig breeding.

 The experts said the veterinary policy of the Netherlands aims to protect human and animal health and develop a sustainable and profitable livestock industry, ensuring trade safety without importing and exporting animal diseases.

 According to Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the African swine fever has so far occurred at 7,000 communes of 62 cities and provinces across the country, with the central province of Ninh Thuan the only one free from the disease.

 A total of four million pigs have been culled, making up over 10 per cent of the country’s total herd.

-- BERNAMA