The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department announced today (14th) that in response to the recent death of a number of wild boars in the Huang Yutan area of Tai Po, AFCD officers took samples from a relatively complete wild boar carcass for testing and found a African swine fever virus.
This is the second case in Hong Kong after wild boars were infected with African swine fever virus in Siu Sai Wan earlier.
The spokesman also emphasized that African swine fever is a highly contagious disease between pigs and wild boars, but it is not a zoonotic infectious disease and cannot be transmitted to humans, so it does not pose a food safety risk. Pork can be eaten with confidence after it is thoroughly cooked. The case will not affect the supply of live pigs in Hong Kong.
▼On November 17 last year, the staff of the Fisheries and Conservation Department trapped wild boar▼
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No pig farms within 3 km of dead pigs
A spokesman for the AFCD pointed out that in response to the recent death of several wild boars in the Huang Yutan area of Tai Po, AFCD staff took a sample from a wild boar with a relatively complete body found at the above-mentioned location for testing. Pestivirus was positive.
The department stated that it will continue to monitor the death situation of wild boars that need attention and carry out wild boar monitoring work.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department pointed out that no local pig farms have been found to be affected by the incident, and there are no pig farms within three kilometers of Tai Po Yellow Fish Beach.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has immediately notified all local pig farm managers of the case, and reminded them to strengthen biosecurity measures to prevent wild boars from entering the pig farm and spreading the African swine fever virus; The problem should be reported to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, which has been closely monitoring the health of pigs in local pig farms and will collect samples for testing if necessary.
Infection between pigs does not affect the supply of live pigs
The spokesman said that African swine fever is a highly contagious disease between pigs and wild boars, but it is not a zoonotic infectious disease and cannot be transmitted to humans, so it does not pose a food safety risk. Pork can be eaten with confidence after being thoroughly cooked. It will not affect the supply of live pigs in Hong Kong.
It is also emphasized that if the public encounters wild boars, they should keep a distance from them as much as possible to ensure personal safety and avoid wild boars coming into contact with food contaminated with African swine fever virus.
African Swine Fever｜Agricultural industry expects the virus to originate from imported pork or wild boar food waste or be fed and infected with wild boars in Siu Sai Bay and die one after another The AFCD is the first wild boar case in Hong Kong after an autopsy by the AFCD | African swine fever urges the government Imported Pork Food Safety Center: Virus will not infect humans