Aizawl: After a hiatus of three months, Mizoram has reported fresh cases of African Swine Fever (ASF), the contagious pig disease that killed over 33,000 pigs last year, an official said.
State animal husbandry and veterinary department joint director (Livestock Health) Dr. Lalhmingthanga said that fresh pig deaths due to ASF have been reported recently from some villages.
However, the number of pigs that died due to the disease would be officially announced after a meeting with state chief secretary Renu Sharma on Wednesday, he said. He said that officials of animal husbandry and the veterinary department would meet Sharma over the fresh cases.
Meanwhile, an official statement said that the cause of death of some pigs in east Mizoram’s Champhai town recently was confirmed ‘ASF.’
Champhai’s Electric Veng neighbourhood, where the pig deaths were reported, has been declared a containment area since March 21 until further orders, the statement said.
Pig deaths due to ASF have also been reported from Sakawrdai village on the Mizoram-Manipur border.
Village council president Sangthankhuma said that more than 100 pigs have died since February this year. The cause of pig death was confirmed ‘ASF’ recently by officials of animal husbandry and veterinary department, he said.
Mizoram had stopped reporting ASF-related pig deaths in December last year.
State animal husbandry and veterinary minister Dr. K. Beichhua had told the assembly house during the recently concluded budget session that 33,417 pigs died due to the outbreak of ASF in more than 8 months, causing monetary losses to the tune of Rs 60.82 crore.
A total of 10,910 pigs were also culled to prevent further spread of ASF, the minister had said. No pig death due to ASF was reported since December last year, he had added.
The first outbreak of ASF, believed to be caused by pigs imported from Bangladesh, was 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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