20. African swine fever
African swine fever African swine fever (ASF) is an acute highly fatal viral infection of pigs. It is global in its distribution. The disease reached PNG in 2020 after two pigs fed food waste from a Chinese construction camp kitchen near Mendi became ill and spread the disease to others. From that point ASF spread along traditional trade routes through pig-to-pig contact, in meat scraps from infected pigs or following open kill in villages and free roaming pigs snuffling up blood or trim following a pig kill. We knew from local information and NAQIA reports that the disease was in the area. Senior staff were very cautious, and we kept a close watch on who came onto the site but a riot and mayhem in late November 2022 cast all our measures aside. People connected to us were killed. Our senior staff were withdrawn until security stabilised. That meant there was no-one to actively control who came onto the site. The construction crew working ...
