Vietnamese Agriculture Minister Nguyen Xuan Quong said two million infected pigs have been rejected in the country due to the continued spread of the African swine fever virus.

The disease, which spread to Vietnam in early February, spread across 48 of Vietnam’s 63 urban provinces, said Nguyen Suan Quong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, at a meeting with the Legislative Assembly on Friday, May 31.

“This is a serious problem never before encountered in the global agricultural industry,” said Quong.

According to him, without proper procedures to contain the disease, combined with difficult weather conditions, the disease can spread to new areas, re-infect former areas or even attack large farms.

Preventive measures are currently the only option to contain this disease. The Ministry of Health is already searching for a vaccine against the virus, the minister added.

The Ministry of Commerce and relevant authorities see the supply of frozen pork as a reliable plan to prevent a possible shortage of pork. The Ministry of Agriculture warned people to stop raising pigs and instead raise other groups of animals, such as buffalo, cows, poultry or seafood.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the country, Vietnam is the seventh largest pig population in the world and the sixth largest producer of pork.

The pig population is estimated at 90 trillion won ($ 3.8 million), which is 10 percent of the country's total agricultural value. It also provides jobs for 2.4 million households and 10,000 farms in the country, Minister Quong said.