African swine fever detected in this district of Assam
1 min read 17 Jul 2022, 03:16 PM ISTAssam has detected a case of African swine fever; the culling of pigs has begun in the area
PremiumAfrican swine fever was detected in Assam on Sunday after a pig in Dibrugarh's Bhogali Pathar village tested positive for the virus. According to the reports, the culling of pigs has begun in the area where the first case of African swine fever has been registered.
Dr Himandu Bikash Barua, Dist Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Officer in Dibrugarh, told news agency ANI that a sample of the pig confirmed that it had an African swine fever. African swine fever causes fever, nausea, and diarrhoea in pigs.
"In Dibrugarh's Bhogali Pathar village, a farmer's pig had a disease. The pig was examined and the sample was sent for testing. The sample confirmed that the pig had African Swine Fever," he said.
Himandu Bikash Barua also said that all pigs within a 1 km radius of the epicenter, where the African swine fever was detected in a pig, had been culled. Entire area has also been sanitised.
"We first declared the area up to 1 km as infected. According to the rules, we've killed and buried all the pigs in the infected area. Simultaneously, we have also sanitised the entire area," he said.
Highly contagious and deadly for pigs, the African swine fever virus doesn't spread to humans.
Speaking about the African swine fever being detected in Assam, Minister Atul Bora said, "African Swine Fever (ASF), which is a challenge for pig farmers and rural economy, has recently affected pig farmers in Assam."
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"At the NE India Regional Workshop on ASF Management Planning, I urged the experts & officials to work towards raising awareness among farmers," he tweeted.
AFRICAN SWINE FEVER DETECTED IN UTTARAKHAND
Recently, Uttarakhand had also logged cases of African swine fever. As the state detected a case of African swine fever, the state government urged its residents to avoid having pork for at least the next one week.
Over the last week, authorities were alerted to around 200 pig deaths in cities like Dehradun, Kotdwar, Chamoli and Muni ki Reti (in Tehri Garhwal district) due to the African swine fever.
The Mizoram government has also killed more than 37,000 pigs after the state also detected the African swine fever virus.
