Tran Van Quang, head of the provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, has instructed the department’s unit in Long Thanh District to consider the punishment for Ninh Van Truong for the violation.

According to Quang, on July 3, local authorities in Ho Chi Minh City detected 14 pigs contained in a truck with symptoms of African swine fever.

The owner Tran Ba Trang showed the quarantine certificate which allowed the pigs to be transported from a farm in Dong Nai’s Long Thanh District to a slaughterhouse in Vinh Long Province.

After that, the HCM City Health Animal and Veterinary Department took some samples of the pigs for test. The pigs tested positive for African swine fever. 

The case was quickly reported to the Dong Nai Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary.

Quang added that the batch had originated from an area hit by African swine fever, so it would only be licensed with a quarantine certificate in case where the pigs had tested negative for the virus. However, Truong still ignored this and licensed the batch.

The pigs were culled.

HCM City receives around 6,500 live pigs from different localities for slaughtering daily.

Meanwhile, roughly 2,100 live pigs are also transported through the city to other localities.

The first pigs in HCM City were found to be hit by the African swine fever on June 10 in District 9.