African swine fever hits Tripura after Mizoram

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• Sep 23, 2021 | moderator

AGARTALA: African swine fever (ASF) has now hit Tripura as the African swine fever virus (ASFV) has spread to the princely state from neighbouring Mizoram.

As many as 160 pigs have died so far at the government run Exotic Pig Breeding Farm in Kanchanpur in North Tripura district of the state.

Though the ASF has not yet spread to the adjoining villages, a team of veterinary doctors and experts have been camping in Kanchanpur.

A total of 37 pigs have been culled in Kanchanpur so far and a maximum surveillance is being done to prevent the spread of the disease to the adjoining areas.

Samples of ASF-hit pigs have also been sent to the North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati.

The Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009 has been enforced in Kanchanpur subdivision as a precautionary measure.

Transportation and trading of pigs to and from Kanchanpur have also been banned and any individual found to be violating the provisions of the act would be dealt with firmly.

The ASF has killed over 28,000 pigs in all the 11 districts of Mizoram since March this year.

The hill state share borders with Tripura, Manipur, Assam besides Myanmar and Bangladesh.

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Pig deaths due to ASF have also been reported from Assam and Meghalaya in the last three years.

According to experts, ASF, which was first detected in Kenya in 1921, does not affect human. However, they could be the carrier of the virus.

No vaccine against ASF is available till date.