Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The $100-billion toll of a pig epidemic in China

Researchers estimate that a 2018 outbreak of African swine fever virus led to the loss of at least 38 million more animals than officially acknowledged.
A farmer strokes one of a few pigs in a large mostly empty barn in China.

A farmer in Jiangjiaqiao, China, visits some of the few dozen animals left from his herd of 800 pigs. An outbreak of African swine fever virus forced China to cull millions of pigs. Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/Shutterstock

China’s gross domestic product suffered a loss of nearly 1% in 2019, after officials culled millions of pigs infected with a lethal virus1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 598, 11 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02642-z

References

  1. You, S. et al. Nature Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00362-1 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links