Thailand, one of Asia’s leading pork producers, is stepping up efforts to contain the deadly “swine virus,” which is spreading panic throughout the region.

African swine fever - a disease that kills almost all the pigs it infects - spreads across Asia from China and Mongolia to Vietnam and Cambodia. Millions of pigs were culled, resulting in a global protein deficit and billions of dollars in losses to farmers and food processing companies.

“We are in high alert for the swine virus and are trying to do everything to prevent its spread in Thailand,” Anan Suvannarat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand, said in an interview.

Thailand has tightened inspections at airports and border checkpoints, terminated illegal slaughterhouses and traders, and introduced stricter reporting requirements for pig deaths.

Authorities have already discovered contaminated pork products at airports and borders, but have not yet detected any cases on farms.

“Prevention of an outbreak is our national agenda. Even if the virus enters the country, we will quickly hold back the outbreak in order to minimize damage to the industry, ”said Chirasak Pipatpongsopon, Deputy Director General of the Department of Livestock in Thailand.