ASF Laos: Virus spreads to most of the country

In recent days, a great number of updates from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) came through about the situation in the South East Asian country. The total number of reported African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks has gone up to 94, with culling numbers rising to almost 26,000.

The outbreaks this week, virtually all reported as outbreaks in villages, happened throughout July and August. Some provinces only reported only 1 outbreak; others, like e.g. Borikhamxay, Oudomxay, Huapanh and Attapeu have reported a series of outbreaks.

Largest outbreak in Xaysomboun Special Region

The largest outbreak reported so far happened in Xaysomboun Special Region, north of the capital Vientiane. This village would have had 999 pigs of which 424 were found infected.

Only 3 provinces did not report the virus – being Bokeo and Xayabury in the country’s north west and Champasack in the far south of the country.

ASF in every province

With this geographic spread, it pretty much looks like every province in Laos will soon be infected by ASF. The same happened to China and Vietnam – although one province in Vietnam, being Ninh Thuan, officially did not report ASF yet.

Other countries in South East Asia to have reported ASF are Cambodia and Myanmar. Last week, there were cullings going on in the Philippines, but so far the country’s minister of agriculture, William Dar, only stated that it was not ASF, without saying what virus it was or providing laboratory evidence.