Chart: Swine Fever Sweeps Through China

A new outbreak of African swine fever has been reported at a slaughterhouse in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, killing two pigs that had been due for slaughter and infecting two others, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Monday.

Monday’s announcement brings China’s total number of outbreaks to 20 since the start of August. Seven other regions and provinces, mostly in eastern China, have also been affected. Around 40,000 pigs have been culled in response to the outbreaks. The fever does not affect humans but kills almost all infected animals within days.

Authorities in Hohhot, the region’s capital and where the slaughterhouse is located, have halted all transportation of pork products out of the affected area and have begun culling pigs and disinfecting the area in response to the outbreak, the ministry said.

China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of pork, accounting for over half of global output. The recent outbreaks have caused fears of disruption to the country’s pork supply, and have already contributed to rising prices of consumer goods.