Around 259 Pigs died in Meghalaya due to African Swine Fever

What’s the news?

The Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department reported that at least 259 pigs have died in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district this year due to African Swine Fever (ASF).
As per the department’s livestock census, there are over 53,000 pigs in the district and a total of 3.85 lakh pigs were registered across the state.

News in detail

The Veterinary department first reported the outbreak on April 13 following which instructions were issued under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009, banning slaughter, movement of pigs and supplies at Umshorshor village and within 10 km of its vicinity.
According to the notification, villages under one km radius surrounding infected premises (epicenter of disease) are designated as “Infected Zone” and all villages falling under 10 km radius surrounding infected premises (epicenter of disease) are designated as “Surveillance Zone”.
While movements of pigs are allowed in the surveillance zone, pigs are not allowed to move to the infected zones and handlers are not allowed to move to other pig sheds.

About African Swine Fever

African Swine Fever is a severe DNA viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute haemorrhagic fever.
The disease has a case fatality rate of almost 100 per cent.
Its routes of transmission include direct contact with an infected or wild pig (alive or dead), indirect contact through ingestion of contaminated material such as food waste, feed or garbage, or through biological vectors such as ticks.
African Swine Fever does not affect humans but can be catastrophic for pigs.
Currently, there is no commercially available vaccine against African swine fever.
An outbreak of suspected African swine fever has killed more than 100 domestic pigs in Lunglei district of Mizoram recently.

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