Most recently, the Da Nang Agency of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary has affirmed that no African swine fever (ASF) and pork tapeworm-infected cases have been reported in the city to date.

The municipal Food Safety Management Board examining pork products at a local supermarket

In addition, the agency has confirmed pork products on sale across the city are now totally safe for consumption. Therefore, local consumers should not turn away from safe pork products.

The Head of the Agency, Mr Cao Xuan Thai, said the city is still on high alert against this epidemic, and it is taking concrete measures to prevent the spread of ASF and pig-related diseases to the city.

He revealed all herds of pigs in the city have been raised in clean environment in a modern manner instead of grazing free-range pigs on vast lands in some northern localities. Therefore, there will be no pork suspected to be infected with tapeworms.

In addition, veterinary staff have been on duty around the clock at the Hoa Phuoc and Kim Lien quarantine stations in order to strictly check and spray disinfectant to the pig and pork product transporting vehicles.

Pig herds in the city have yet to be infected by ASF virus

Most notably, Da Nang is the only locality in the country to have successfully implemented the slaughtering of animals at 8 dedicated slaughterhouses.

The majority of pigs at the slaughterhouses are imported from Binh Dinh Province, and from pig farms in the city and Quang Nam Province under the management of the Viet Nam CP Livestock Joint Stock Company. In these localities, no cases of ASF have been reported to date.

Besides, inspection teams have been set up to check food safety at store selling pork meat in markets and supermarkets across the city.

Mr Thai noted the ASF virus does not pose a hazard or a risk to humans, and ASF and tapeworm virus can be killed at the temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius within 2 minutes. Therefore, he advised the public to buy pork with clear origin from reliable places and not eat the meat without cooking it thoroughly.