THE temporary ban on the importation, distribution and sale of all processed pork meat products, including Ma Ling, now covers 16 countries, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
According to FDA, the countries suspected to be affected by the African swine fever virus includes: China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova, and Belgium.
The African swine fever (ASF), as defined by the World Organization for Animal Health, is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease of pigs, warthogs, European wild boar, and American wild pigs.
It is caused by DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family which causes high fever, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin and internal organs, and death in two to 10 days on average to those pigs that are affected.
Although it is not considered as a human threat, it can still cause major economic loss to swine industries.
The FDA advised the public to exercise extreme caution in purchasing and consuming processed pork meat products and to only consume processed pork meat products which are sourced from countries other than the above listed countries suspected to be affected by ASF virus, and are registered with the FDA.
At present, the FDA does not allow the registration of processed pork meat products from these countries.
“A heightened post-marketing surveillance and audit is being conducted on all concerned and covered establishments to ensure dull compliance to the foregoing FDA order,” the FDA stated.
“And at the same time, to hold violators liable under Republic Act 9711 (Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009), Republic Act 10611 (Food and Safety Act of 2013) and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations, all in the interest of protecting public health and safety,” the FDA added.