First detected in August, the disease has killed 1 million pigs, prompting authorities to restrict shipments of most of China's 700 million swine, even though nearly all are still healthy. That has disrupted supplies of pork, China's staple meat, to big cities while prices collapsed in areas with an oversupply of pigs that farmers are barred from shipping to other provinces.
Newly reported cases of African swine fever in Beijing have dealt another blow to the country's beleaguered pig farmers, who have already had to slaughter about one million swine since August because of the disease. The government has restricted transportation of almost 90% of pigs, the majority of which are uninfected. Many Chinese farms are now running at a loss as a pork glut in some regions caused by the movement ban has caused local prices to plummet. Hide Caption