swine fever

noun

Definition of swine fever

1 : hog cholera

2 : a highly contagious disease of swine that is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and usually occurs in a fatal acute form which resembles hog cholera and is marked especially by fever, anorexia, lethargy, vomiting, and bleeding internally and under the skin

Note: Swine fever is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus (species African swine fever virus of the genus Asfivirus, family Asfarviridae) and has spread to and caused epidemics in the western hemisphere.

— called also African swine fever

Examples of swine fever in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some experts have said the current spread of swine fever is the largest known animal disease outbreak in history. — Washington Post, "Philippines confirms African swine fever, culls 7,000 pigs," 9 Sep. 2019 The outbreak of swine fever also threatens to upend the global pork supply chain. — Laura He, CNN, "China could release emergency pork reserves after losing 100 million pigs to swine fever," 4 Sep. 2019 Chinese data also showed a 9.1% surge in food prices, reflecting the toll of swine fever on the country’s pork. — Fortune, "The Week Trump and Xi Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Trade War—CEO Daily," 10 Aug. 2019 Since being first detected in China in August 2018, swine fever has spread to other countries in the Asia region. — Ben Westcott, CNN, "Beijing admits 'weaknesses' in handling of African swine fever crisis," 4 July 2019 Headline consumer price inflation is rapid thanks to the swine fever that is decimating China’s pig population. — Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, "Juice for China’s Economy Is Coming," 14 June 2019 The price of pork has jumped as the country deals with a devastating swine fever epidemic. — New York Times, "A Slower Economy. A Trade War. Now, China Faces Rising Food Prices.," 4 June 2019 Those transporting not just live pigs, but also pork, across borders risk introducing swine fever to new areas. — The Economist, "African swine fever spreads to South-East Asia," 20 June 2019 Chinese officials are still trying to contain the outbreak of swine fever, which doesn’t make people sick but can be fatal in pigs. — New York Times, "A Slower Economy. A Trade War. Now, China Faces Rising Food Prices.," 4 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swine fever.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.