Week 23./2025

2025. június 10.

Dear readers, Some good news regarding the swine industry: The vaccine needs to: Events calendar: Fun fact: Gutinho Rocha, a 9-year-old boy from Brazil, went viral on social media after he was spotted riding to school on the back of a pig. The child named the animal "Rocket" and takes 15 minutes to get to…

Tibor Abraham PhD

Dear readers,

Some good news regarding the swine industry:

  • During World Organization for Animal Heath’s annual meeting in Paris, the organization set minimum standards for member countries and manufacturers for “safe and effective” vaccines for African Swine Fever(ASF):

The vaccine needs to:

  • Be effective in reducing disease severity of the disease, limiting viral transmission and conveying immunity to livestock, reducing or preventing production losses inflicted by ASF.
  • Be proven safe before use for both livestock and the environment.
  • Not contain wild ASF viruses.
  • Match the local ASF genotype circulating where a vaccine is to be administered, to ensure effectiveness and prevent recombination of differing strains.
  • The reverse genetic system allows scientists to rapidly generate genetically modified versions of a virus. Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have developed a reverse genetic system to combat African swine fever (ASF) virus.

Events calendar:

  • Seoul Food & Hotel (SFH) is South Korea’s leading trade fair for the food, beverage, and hospitality industries, and ranks among the most important events of its kind in Asia. The Seoul Food & Hotel takes place on 4 days from Tuesday, 10.06.2025 to Friday, 13.06.2025 in Goyang .
  • The “Food and Beverage (FAB) West Africa” is a leading trade fair for food and beverages in West Africa, held annually at the Landmark Centre in Lagos. FAB will take place on 3 days from Tuesday, 10. June to Thursday, 12. June 2025.
  • The “Africa’s Big 7” is a leading food and beverage trade show in Africa, held annually at the Cape Town International Convention Centre(SCC) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Africa’s Big 7 will take place on 3 days from Tuesday, 10. June to Thursday, 12. June 2025.
  • The “Fresh India Show” (FIS), a leading trade fair for the agriculture and food industry, held annually at the Bombay Exhibition Center (BEC) NESCO in Mumbai. It takes place on 2 days from Friday, 13.06.2025 to Saturday, 14.06.2025.

Fun fact: Gutinho Rocha, a 9-year-old boy from Brazil, went viral on social media after he was spotted riding to school on the back of a pig. The child named the animal “Rocket” and takes 15 minutes to get to school with this unusual means of transport. In the images, the child can be seen wearing a protective helmet and riding “Rocket”, who appears to be wearing a pink wig.

The Heat is On

In the Netherlands 199 entrepreneurs from the Limburg area have expressed their interest in the province’s ‘new’ retirement scheme for farmers. It seems that the reduction of the number of pigs in the country is unstoppable.

A new study in Genome Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, has found that the African swine fever virus, currently circulating in Europe, is not the result of a recent introduction. Instead, the virus has been present in the region since 2007. The dramatic spread of the ASF virus appears to be driven largely by people within Europe traveling longer distances. While the mobility of the people is increasing especially in the summer time, the mobility of the livestock is dramatically decreasing. We have already faced temperatures above 30° C last week. Long distance transport of the livestock is limited above this value. In the beginning of the year we have seen a high movement of pigs from Belgium and the Netherlands to Spain. Piglets were on high demand both in Spain and Italy. Now this movements will be almost impossible.

High temperatures should also determine a reduced weight increase in the fatteners,  with less pork resulting on the slaughtering operations. Thus, a new increase on the German pig quotation is probable. The heat is on!