African Swine Fever arrives in Macedonia

African Swine Fever (ASF) has arrived in North Macedonia, reported the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

Earlier, the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) of Mexico notified the confirmation of an outbreak of ASF in Haiti.

So North Macedonia is added to the list of countries affected by the disease.

Therefore, Senasica recommended applying preventive measures and activities, in order to prevent the entry of products of pork origin from North Macedonia to Mexico to protect the Mexican livestock sector.

The outbreak of African Swine Fever in China in 2019 reduced the global supply of pork, which was expected to create a global protein deficit. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the demand for protein around the world.

African Swine Fever

As African swine fever began to affect China in October 2018, the supply of pigs decreased.

Additionally, as of March 2019, the Chongqing government requires all local slaughterhouses to only purchase pigs from pig farms in Chongqing, further limiting the supply of pigs.

As an example, the decrease in supply increased the price of pigs and increased the cost per slaughter and processing unit of the China Xiangtai Food company.

Since January 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine measures, China Xiangtai Food’s sales volume at farmers’ markets decreased.

For other companies, the general decrease in the pig population and the supply of raw materials caused a substantial increase in the unit cost of their heparin and sausage casing products.

The cost of pork small intestine, which is the main material for products in this segment, increased 50% in 2020.