African swine fever virus was detected at Chiang Rai airport in sausages carried by a Chinese visitor.
The 800-gram sausages were tested by RT-PCR and found to be tainted with ASF virus. The visitor was coming from Chengdu, China via Sichuan airline flight 3U8287. ASF virus contamination via foreign visitors bringing food along was also reported earlier in Japan and Korea.
After the first ASF outbreak in China was reported in early August, the Thai authorities imposed a 90-day ban on pork product imports to Thailand. The embargo will be extended another `90 days beginning on Dec 2nd.
The Thai DLD is beefing up checkpoints along borders. Small farms are urged to follow Good Farming Management guidelines and have a rigorous biosecurity program in place whilst medium-to-large scale operators should have Good Agricultural Practice accreditation.