African Swine Fever detected in Mizoram again, Containment area set up in Champai

African Swine Fever (ASF) has raised its ugly head in Mizoram yet again.  The contagious pig disease wreaked havoc on the piggery sector of the state killing over 33,000 pigs

African Swine Fever (ASF) has raised its ugly head in Mizoram yet again.  The contagious pig disease wreaked havoc on the piggery sector of the state killing over 33,000 pigs last year.

According to the state animal husbandry and veterinary department, fresh pig deaths have been reported in some villages due to ASF. The exact number of pigs that died due to the disease will be officially announced after a meeting with state chief secretary, Renu Sharma.

State animal husbandry and veterinary minister Dr K Beichhua informed the Mizoram Assembly during the recently concluded budget session that 33,417 pigs have died due to the outbreak of ASF. According to  Dr. Beichhua in more than 8 months ASF cauied monetary losses to the tune of Rs 60.82 crore.

In fact the state veterinary and the animal husbandru department had culled a total of 10,910 pigs prevent further spread of ASF.

Meanwhile, Champhai’s Electric Veng neighbourhood where the pig deaths were reported has been declared as a containment area from March 21 until further order.

Notably, the first outbreak of ASF is believed to be caused by pigs imported from Bangladesh reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21 last year. Later in mid-April, the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed that the pig deaths were due to ASF. The outbreak has affected all the 11 districts of the state.

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