African Swine Fever Detected at Pig Breeding Unit in Kerala’s Thrissur
Chief Veterinary Officer said the disease occurs only in pigs and does not spread to humans. Therefore, the public need not be concerned, officials said
Thrissur: African swine fever (ASF) has been detected among pigs at the Pig Breeding Unit of the Animal Husbandry Department in Kunnamkulam here, officials said on Monday.
They also said there was no cause for concern as the disease does not spread to humans.
The disease was detected after samples from the unit were tested at the National Institute for High Security Animal Diseases laboratory in Bhopal.
Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Isaac Sam said the disease occurs only in pigs and does not spread to humans or other domestic animals.
"Therefore, the public need not be concerned," the Animal Husbandry Department said.
As a precautionary measure to prevent the disease from spreading to other farms, the district administration has declared a one-kilometre radius around the affected farm as an infected zone and a 10-kilometre radius as a surveillance zone.
The restrictions came into effect from August 9 in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure under the National Action Plan of the Centre.
District Collector Shikha Surendran has directed the District Animal Husbandry Officer to take steps to regulate the movement of pigs to other districts, the distribution of pork from the affected areas and the functioning of meat shops, as per the Centre's Plan of Action.
A Rapid Response Team has also started functioning under the Animal Husbandry Department to coordinate disease-control measures in the district.
The department has issued strict biosecurity guidelines to pig farmers and workers.
Farmers have been advised to temporarily avoid bringing new pigs and piglets into farms during a local disease situation.
Newly introduced pigs should be kept separately from the main herd for at least three weeks to ensure they show no symptoms of disease, officials said.
Farmers have also been advised to restrict unnecessary visitors and vehicles entering farms, avoid visits to other pig farms and disinfect footwear, vehicles and equipment brought from outside.
The department has advised farmers to avoid swill feeding, under which leftover food from hotels and markets is given to pigs.
If such feeding cannot be avoided, the leftovers should be boiled for at least 20 minutes before being given to pigs.
Farmers have also been advised not to feed pigs with slaughterhouse waste, particularly waste from facilities where pigs are slaughtered along with chickens and buffaloes.
The department asked farmers to prevent contact between domestic pigs and wild boars and report any unusually high number of wild boar deaths.
Officials said any abnormal symptoms or sudden deaths among pigs should be immediately reported to the nearest government veterinary hospital.
"Concealing the disease, selling off pigs suspected of being infected, or slaughtering them could lead to widespread disease transmission," the department said.
