Difficult times call for drastic measures.

A butcher in Hong Kong has resorted to selling women's clothing and undergarments, as a result of the city's authorities culling thousands of pigs over the outbreak of African swine fever.

The inner wear sale was the result of a shortage in pork and the need to make ends' meet, said one of the stall's female employees, who spoke to Hong Kong media Oriental Daily.

Hanging panties, bras and shirts instead of meat

On May 15 and 16, several photos of the stall and its new goods were posted to Facebook group Tai Po, as well as Twitter, showing women's clothes and undergarments hanging in front of the stall.

According to the photos, the panties were priced at HK$5 (S$0.88), the bras at HK$10 (S$1.75) and the t-shirts at HK$20 (S$3.50) respectively.

https://twitter.com/wu_venus/status/1128599754768732160

Business actually doing OK

The employee said initially when the stall started selling clothes and underwear, people had speculated that the butcher had rented out his stall to another vendor, Oriental Daily further reported.

The stall's vendors wore masks as the stall still had the smell of pork.

Business has surprisingly not been doing too badly, the employee added.

She also said she was not sure how long she would have to keep selling for, but she would continue to do so as business was "OK".

About 6,000 pigs have been culled in Hong Kong

Around 6,000 pigs have been culled in Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post and The Guardian.

Sophia Chan, Hong Kong’s secretary for food and health, said the disease had entered Hong Kong via a pig imported from Guangdong province.

However, according to a mainland agency involved in the supply of agricultural produce to Hong Kong, the General Administration of Customs, the pig's farm of origin did not have any recent abnormal deaths.

The agency elaborated that samples from the farm had tested negative for the virus.

Additionally, the transportation of the pigs had not passed through areas affected by African swine fever.

The agency added that this meant the possibility of the pig having been infected prior to its arrival in the city was “very low”.

The agency said it would engage in further investigations with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as the relevant authorities from Hong Kong.

How far has African swine fever spread?

According to the New York Times, African swine fever has spread to every mainland province of China, as well as Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia.

It was reported in northeastern China in August 2018, according to Science.

Vietnam alone has culled almost 90,000 pigs since February 2019.

Meanwhile, Dutch bank Rabobank has estimated that China's pig population could shrink by up to 200 million, or one-third of its size, as a result of the disease and culling, CNN reported.

Top image via 寧竹銘 from Tai Po Facebook group