RRTs deployed to contain ASF: Director
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 02 2022: Following the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in Grihang village of Kamjong district, the directorate of veterinary and animal husbandry has deployed three Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in the district to contain the outbreak, informed veterinary and animal husbandry director Dr Ng Ibotombi.

Addressing a press meet at his office here on Thursday, Dr Ibotombi said that the initial report of pigs dying in Grihang village was received on May 11 and a team of veterinary officials visited the site the following day for collecting samples.

The samples were sent to Advanced Animal Diseases Monitoring Consortium, Guwahati and the test result came positive for African swine fever.

Consequently, the incident was reported to North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the state authority has been taking up containment measures since then, he said.

As part of the containment measures, Kamjong district administration has issued necessary notification declaring infected and controlled area while placing relevant restrictions to contain the situation.

Since there is no pig farm in the vicinity of the infected zone in Grihang and there is only one small village in the 10 km radius of the infected zone, there is minimal chance of the outbreak spreading to other parts of the district.

Besides, the small village in the surveillance zone does not have any pig farm, he said.

As of now, there is no report of infection to human and as such there is no reason to get panic.

African swine fever is a trans-boundary disease and it did not originate from India.

However, farmers need to follow proper care and scientific method to prevent infection of the disease, the director said, while urging farmers to inform nearby veterinary institution in case of pigs dying in their farms.

Meanwhile, sources informed that at least 20 pigs have died after the outbreak of ASF in Kamjong district and over 90 pigs, including gilts, culled to prevent further spread.

The infected pigs showed symptoms of lost appetite, high fever and died after bleeding, it said.

Mention may be made that in a notification issued by Kamjong district magistrate Rangnamei Rang Peter , the outbreak of African Swine Flu has confirmed amongst the pigs in Dang's Piggery Farming located at Grihang village.

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