New Zealand pig farmers are on high alert, as African Swine Fever (AFS) continues to spread at rapid rates globally.
No country as been able to contain the disease.
If the disease arrived in New Zealand it would almost wipe out the entire population overnight according to Canterbury pig farmer Jason Palmer.
“We’d have to shut our operation down and de-populate immediately,” Mr Palmer told 1 NEWS.
While meat is still safe for human consumption, infected pigs generally have to be put down.
AFS is already having a major impact in New Zealand, said New Zealand Pork's General Manger David Baines.
“We import around 60 per cent of our consumption so it’s having a major impact on the amount we can buy and because demand’s lifted, the price has gone up,” he said.
The Philippines is also in the midst of an outbreak, and with so many of New Zealand’s farmers from South East Asia there are concerns it could spread easily.
In a statement, the Ministry for Primary Industries told 1 NEWS it’s closely monitoring the situation. Signs have been put up at all international airports warning travellers about the disease, and the risk of bringing pork products into the country.
1 NEWS understand some farmers are forcing workers to have a weeks’ stand down if they visit an infected country, to be sure they’re free of the disease.
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