Pork prices to climb as African swine fever kills up to 200 million of China’s pigs

Pork prices are expected rise as African swine fever decimates Chinese pigs, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

McDonald’s, Burger King, Jimmy Dean and Dunkin’ all reportedly expect sausage and bacon prices to rise this year as China has to import pigs to make up for the 200 million hogs that are expected to die from the disease.

{mosads}That quantity of lost pigs accounts for roughly 5 percent of the global meat market, according to the Journal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said China could import 33 percent more pigs this year to meet domestic demand.

The disease, which is harmless to humans, could have wide-ranging effects to American meat markets.

“It will affect all the proteins,” Tyson Foods CEO Noel White said at a conference in New York last week, the Journal noted. “We’re already seeing that effect – prices are moving higher.”

The effects of the African swine fever outbreak could be similar to when bird flu spiked poultry prices globally in 2017.