Bhutan: swill feeding suspected as a driver behind ASF’s return
In the Kingdom of Bhutan (South Asia), ASF has re-emerged. During the first week of January, a small backyard holding tested positive for the virus after three pigs died. This was reported in an official notification to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
The outbreak occurred in the southwestern district of Chukha, and the premises is likely located within 10 km of the border with India. The report notes that one of the key factors behind the re-introduction of the virus may have been swill feeding—feeding pigs with food waste—which in many countries is considered one of the highest-risk transmission routes for ASF.
Vietnam: over 130 tonnes of ASF-infected pork found at a canning company
In Vietnam, law enforcement is investigating a high-profile case linked to the discovery of more than 130 tonnes of pork infected with the ASF virus, stored at facilities belonging to Halong Canned Food JSC. The VN Express outlet reported the case.
According to investigators, meat showing signs of infection was stored in the company’s cold rooms and may have been used as raw material for canned products. The investigation began in September last year, after police stopped two vehicles transporting pork without documents verifying its origin.
Within the case, media reports suggest the company may have used the material to produce:
- 1.7 tonnes of pâté;
- 7 tonnes of spring rolls.
In addition, inspections detected large quantities of chicken products contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, further amplifying concerns around food safety violations.
The company stated it was not directly involved in the scheme and said that none of the nine detained and charged individuals were its employees or executives. Halong Canned Food also claimed that documentation accompanying received goods appeared to be in order, that it had proactively notified the authorities, and that it was fully cooperating with the investigation.
Vietnam: 2025 may be the toughest ASF year since 2019
Against this backdrop, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in its latest update on ASF in Asia, reported that by the end of November Vietnam had recorded 2,495 ASF outbreaks in pig herds since the start of 2025. Around 1.23 million pigs were affected through mortality and/or culling.
ASF cases were confirmed in 31 of the country’s 34 provinces/cities within the previous three weeks. FAO noted that 2025 could become Vietnam’s worst ASF year since the virus emerged there in 2019, when more than 6,000 outbreaks were recorded. By comparison, in 2024 there were just over 1,600 confirmed ASF outbreaks.
The Philippines, Hong Kong, South Korea: new ASF figures
The Philippines
The latest notification to WOAH confirms a further 446 ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs. These appear to have started between March and June 2025 and directly impacted more than 2,800 swine through mortality or culling.
Since ASF was first detected in the Philippines in early 2020, approximately 80,300 pigs have been affected in the Mindanao and Visayas areas. Over the past six years, 1,828 outbreaks have been confirmed there, including a small number involving wild warty pigs.
Hong Kong
After several months without reports, Hong Kong authorities confirmed ASF’s return: a licensed pig farm in the New Territories was affected. Subsequent enhanced inspections, surveillance and investigations have revealed no further cases.
South Korea
Investigations into the most recent farm outbreak (late November) point to possible risk factors including:
- foreign workers,
- illegally imported livestock products,
- movement of workers between regions.
Over the past two weeks, 10 more wild boar tested positive for ASF, bringing the national total in this population since 2019 to 4,326. Over the past six years, domestic pigs at 55 farms have also been confirmed with ASF, with the most recent outbreak in November 2025.
Japan: new classical swine fever cases in wild boar
Japan has reported a further 167 classical swine fever (CSF) outbreaks to WOAH. All involved wild boar and were detected between February 1 and July 21, 2025.
Infected animals were found in 38 of the country’s 47 prefectures and in seven of its eight regions. The latest cases bring the total number of confirmed infections in the wild population since March 2022 to 4,360.
The report emphasizes that CSF and ASF have similar consequences for pig production, but they are caused by unrelated viruses. Importantly, ASF has never been detected in Japan to date.
Europe: few cases in domestic pigs, widespread circulation in wild boar
Over the past two weeks, ASF has been detected in only three backyard herds of domestic pigs in Europe—one each in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova and Serbia.
At the same time, the situation in wild boar in central and eastern Europe remains tense: 11 European states registered new ASF cases in their wild populations over the same period.
Spain: infected wild boar count rises to 60 as searches continue
In Spain, investigations and containment efforts are ongoing following the ASF outbreak in wild boar in Barcelona province (Catalonia). The latest notification to WOAH puts the number of confirmed infected animals at 60.
Spain’s agriculture ministry уточнило that the latest 13 infected wild boar were found in a second focus area around 6 km from the initial cases. Meanwhile, more than 620 other animals tested negative.
Current actions include:
- continued searches for carcasses in forest areas;
- efforts to reduce the wild boar population;
- strengthened containment within the control area;
- construction of additional barriers around rail and road connections.
Enhanced surveillance at 57 pig farms in the affected area has found no sign of ASF, and biosecurity inspections have also been carried out. Authorities again urged pig owners nationwide to maintain the highest possible biosecurity and to report any suspicious symptoms to officials.
It was also noted that the virus genotype isolated in Spain belongs to genotype II, the same group circulating in northern and eastern Europe. Genetic sequencing revealed a novel change that places the virus into a new subgroup of genotype II, complicating identification of the strain’s exact origin.
Africa: new reports from Angola and South Africa
In Angola, ASF was detected for the first time in Huambo province—near the country’s third-largest city. At the end of December, pigs died on a farm with around 300 animals. The source of infection is attributed to vectors and/or swill feeding. Based on WOAH reports, the last ASF outbreak in Angola began two years ago and involved a single farm in a different area.
In addition, South Africa’s veterinary authority retrospectively notified WOAH of seven further ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs. Three occurred in the Buffalo City area of Eastern Cape in June last year; during the next month, outbreaks were confirmed on two farms and in two villages in Western Cape. According to WOAH, these outbreak series have been ongoing for at least five years and have directly impacted 127 domestic pig herds.
PigUA.info, based on feedstrategy.com