Season's Greetings to all readers of Poultry International and to an industry extending the season of goodwill.

African swine fever (ASF) has been reported in Ghana for the first time, and further outbreaks have been reported in South Africa as well as central and eastern European states.

Despite a seven-month decline in the size of china’s pig herd due to African swine fever, feed demand in China has decreased only marginally. Imports of U.S. soybeans, however, continue to drop dramatically.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs says it is cracking down on illegal African swine fever (ASF) vaccines that have appeared on the market recently.

What happens when our anti-vaxxer consumer becomes concerned with the idea that a vaccine may give chicken, hog, or cattle some sort of permanent health issues, like the ones they claim can result from human vaccination?

In its latest update on the global African swine fever (ASF) situation, Rabobank said hog losses in China have reached critical levels, the rest of the world’s producers cannot make up the difference, and disruption will intensify as the disease continues to spread.

New Hope Liuhe has completed construction on its first pig farm in Vietnam, according to a Reuters report.

A new study has found that general bans on the movement of livestock after a disease outbreak may not be the most economically feasible option.

In recent weeks, African swine fever (ASF) has been reported for the first time in Serbia, and the disease in spreading in domestic pigs in Bulgaria, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Two new outbreaks have also been recorded in South Africa.

Perhaps it is an overreaction. Perhaps it is an opportunity to cut back on costs. Perhaps it is neither or both, but I have heard of cases where major pig producers are keeping growing-finishing gilts back for breeding as they decided to stop bringing in new genetic stock in fear of introducing the African swine fever (ASF) virus to their herds.