BloombergChinese criminal gangs are spreading rumors about African swine fever to scare farmers into selling pigs for cheaper, according to magazine China Comment. The healthy animals are sometimes smuggled across provinces and resold at a higher price, the investigative report said. Moving livestock or pork across provinces is banned as authorities try to prevent the disease from spreading. With the outbreak of the African swine fever, China has been grappling with a surge in the price of pork, a staple in the local diet. Wholesale pork prices have more than doubled this year, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce data, fueling the highest annual consumer inflation rate in seven years.
