Jamshedpur, Sep 2: The health department has sounded an alert after reports emerged of African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks in pigs in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and some northeastern states.
The department has asked officials to keep vigil on unauthorized transportation of pigs, pig meat, pig-meat products or pig manure (including pig excreta) in and out of the region. There are no restrictions on such movements within the state. Pig farmers and piggeries have also been asked to alert authorities if they notice sudden deaths among their stock. ASF does not infect or spread to humans but it’s deadly and highly contagious among pigs.
An official said so far no case of ASF has been reported in the state or neighbouring states. “We have sounded an alert as a precaution. We have issued orders to keep checkpoints under stringent checks for unauthorised transport of pigs, pig meat and other related products,” he said.
As per central guidelines, all pigs within a 1-kilometre radius of the disease epicenter are to be culled if an area reports ASF.
Unlike Kerala, a relatively high meat consuming state which brings in pig products from other states, Maharashtra is self-sufficient in pig meat. But indiscriminate transportation can increase risk of ASF spread from other affected states, experts have said.
The department has directed farmers to immediately alert the nearest veterinary hospitals about unnatural deaths of animals in the farms.
ASF is a highly-infectious and contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of pigs, wild boar/feral pigs and other pig species of all breeds and ages. Mortality rate is as high as 100%. ASF does not infect humans or other livestock species. It is caused by a DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, genus Asfivirus.
The incubation period varies from 4 to 19 days. In India, ASF was confirmed initially in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam during June 2020 and then in Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur.
The pig stock in the state (exotic, crossbred and indigenous) can be endangered if an outbreak occurs here as the disease is characterized by very high mortality and culling being an essential element of disease control, according to the notification.
