China out to boost food security with 13-storey ‘hog hotels’ that protect pigs from viruses

Nicknamed hog hotels, these gigantic vertical farms are being built to emulate the strict controls major suppliers in other countries have used to prevent outbreaks

African swine fever broke out in China in 2018, and within a year, roughly half the nation’s herd of more than 400 million pigs had been wiped out

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Lethal African swine fever, which sickens pigs much like Ebola kills humans, caused a dramatic outbreak in China in 2018, and within a year, roughly half the nation’s herd of more than 400 million pigs had been wiped out. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00pm, 2 Aug 2021Updated: 12:08pm, 2 Aug 2021

China is taking hog biosecurity to new levels – 13 stories in fact. That is the height of a building in southern China where more than 10,000 pigs are kept in a condominium-style complex, complete with restricted access, security cameras, in-house veterinary services and carefully prepared meals.

The seemingly luxurious conditions represent a state-of-the-art approach to biosecurity in which pigs – the main source of meat in China – are shielded from viruses, including the devastating African swine fever that wiped out half the nation’s hogs in the two years before the coronavirus pandemic emerged.

Nicknamed “hog hotels,” these gigantic vertical farms are being built by companies, including Muyuan Foods and New Hope Group, emulating the strict controls major suppliers in other countries have used to prevent outbreaks of the devastating disease.

China is copying best-practices from Europe and the United States to close its biosecurity gap, said Rupert Claxton, the British-based meat director at consultant Gira, who has been providing advice to farmers and businesses for two decades.

“In 20 years, it’s done what the Americans took probably 100 years to do,” he said.