Today, official statistics from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization show that ASF has spread to Cambodia, China, Laos, Mongolia, North Korea and Vietnam, and experts predict that its merciless march will continue.

In Vietnam alone, according to official figures, over 2.5 million pigs were rejected due to ASF. The disease spread to almost all provinces of the country. In a country with a population of 95 million people, where pork accounts for 75 percent of total meat consumption, this reality creates problems.

In China, the picture does not look much better, despite the ongoing efforts of the government and large private producers. According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, the number of pigs in April fell by 21 percent - to a level unprecedented since the beginning of the 1990s.

Dutch lender Rabobank predicts that in 2019 in China, the pig population will decrease by 20-30% compared to the previous year, when China registered a herd of 428 million heads.

Pig disease in China continues to reach incredible proportions, recent estimates indicate current and future losses associated with ASF: over 200 million pigs could be affected in the country.

Due to the losses faced by Chinese farmers, some are reluctant to start a new breeding, as called for by the Chinese government, fearing that they may again lose their entire stock due to this disease.

Studies of this disease have shown that cars and agricultural workers are the most common ways of ASF spread. In addition, ASF spreads through feeding pigs and transporting live pigs or infected meat to the affected animals.