Ministry of Health: The virus that causes African swine fever does not cause disease in humans

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Master, Doctor Phan Ngoc Toan - Resuscitation - Emergency Doctor - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.
As a disease with the risk of spreading quickly through contact with blood and mucus of infected pigs, the pig mortality rate is up to 100%. However, African swine fever virus does not cause disease in humans. Therefore, people need to be calm and should not boycott the consumption of safe, disease-free and hygienically processed pork products.

1. How is African swine fever transmitted?

African swine fever is a dangerous infectious disease caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV), which spreads very quickly in pigs through contact with blood and mucus of infected pigs. to 100%. Therefore, the end of African swine fever is not a concern for many people.
As a disease that has a high risk of spreading quickly, as long as pigs stand together with a close distance, they can also catch the disease, especially eating, drinking, or lying next to each other. The causes of disease transmission can also be caused by the external environment such as traveling with a means of transport, being bitten by parasites... from previously infected pigs.

2. How does African cholera manifest?

African swine fever disease manifests through different levels, tends to spread quickly, poses a significant threat to the livestock industry. Actively recognize the signs of the disease and how to prevent the epidemic to limit the disease's wider spread.
Clinical signs (appears about 5-15 days after pigs are infected with the virus) to identify pigs infected with African cholera:
Pigs have a high fever from 41 to 42 degrees Celsius. The sick pig shows signs of fatigue. fatigue, loss of appetite, or looking for a cool place to lie down, huddled together, shortness of breath, flushed skin (especially in the abdomen and extremities).

Pigs have abdominal pain, arched back, abnormal movement (such as staggered, ...) some white areas turn red, especially in the ears, tail, shins, skin in the lower part of the area. chest and abdomen, may be dark blue-violet. In the 1-2 days before the infected pig dies, there are neurological symptoms, tachycardia, or bloody foam in the nose, eye inflammation, vomiting, diarrhea sometimes bloody or possibly constipation, Hard, pelleted stools are small in size, with mucus and blood. Pigs that die early in life usually look healthy but still have red or blue-green areas on the limbs, abdomen and chest. There may be blood from the nose and mouth, pus from the eyes, and bloody stools. If pigs recover from the disease or become asymptomatic, they will carry the virus for life and be a source of infection.

3. African swine fever virus does not cause disease in humans

Before the progress of the disease, many people are also worried whether African swine fever will cause disease in humans.
According to the Ministry of Health, African swine fever is a dangerous infectious disease caused by a virus, but it is completely different from human cholera (a gastrointestinal infection caused by bacteria). African swine fever does not cause disease in humans, but infected pigs can get other dangerous diseases such as blue ear, flu, typhoid... These diseases can cause harm to human health if people ingesting undercooked diseased pig products.

The disease does not spread to humans, but humans are part of the risk of spreading the disease over long distances, so to avoid the risk of spreading and contracting the disease, people need to:
Choose fresh products (contaminated meat pieces). African swine fever has strange colors such as brown, dark red, purple or gray, light green, not firm, ...), has full traceability. Cook pork thoroughly before eating; properly processed, do not eat rare, pig blood soup. Avoid going into epidemic areas, if you find dead pigs, you must immediately report to the authorities for directions to handle. Pig farmers and farm workers avoid direct or indirect contact of pigs with leftovers. When realizing that pigs have clinical signs of disease, farmers should immediately report to the competent authorities; regularly clean and disinfect at breeding facilities, means of transport, livestock tools, wholesale markets, slaughtering pigs and pig waste products with lime powder or chemicals. Hunters, hunting equipment must be washed and put in an environment with a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes and disinfected with disinfectant. Kill factors that increase the risk of disease such as flies and mosquitoes to avoid spreading the disease. Currently, there is no vaccine or drug to treat African swine fever, so people are absolutely not allowed to take sick pigs outside the epidemic area; do not buy seed of unknown origin; Do not use leftovers, food that has not been cooked through heat treatment.

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