'African Swine Fever' has Killed 2,484 Pigs across Assam, Confirms Minister Atul Bora

Dispur, May 3, 2020:

Atul Bora, the Assam Minister for Agriculture and Veterinary has clarified that 2,484 pigs in 306 villages across Assam have succumbed to death due to the African Swine Fever.

Amid conjecture that the recent outbreak of the African Swine Fever in the state is linked to the coronavirus (as both diseases are said to have come from China), Bora clarified that there is no evidence to suggest that. "There is no connection between Covid and the disease and people can still consume pork meat", Bora said, adding that this has been confirmed by a panel of experts and scientists.

Although the virus was detected in February of 2020, it was originally reported in a region adjoining India's Arunachal Pradesh. "From there, we believe the infection spread to India", the Minister further informed.

The Minister also said that in China, the virus was first reported in the Jinjiang district and later spread to Kachin state in Myanmar. The Minister also informed that humans can relay the disease and spread it among pigs. However, humans are not affected.

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This is the first instance of an outbreak of the usually-deadly virus in the country, Bora said, adding that the Government has provided guidelines to cull the pigs according to the 'zones' where the disease has been reported. "Culling will cause massive losses to the farmers, so we will try to work around that and see what alternative step can be taken", Bora said.

21 lakh pigs were counted in the last census, Bora said, adding that the numbers have risen considerably in the last year and now must be close to 30 lakh, Bora further informed.

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Musing on how to "save" the pigs, Bora said that samples will be collected within a 1 km radius of the zones. "The pigs that are detected positive, will likely be culled. However, they will be isolated first and separated from the rest of the litter", he said.

Additionally, Bora said that a 10 km radius will be treated as a 'surveillance zone', so that the pigs are not transported from the affected zone and feed is not transferred from one place to another.

Bora also informed that the administration has also held discussions with people from the pig industry to discuss the action plan, especially in regards to the prospect of culling.

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At the same time, Bora has informed that the free vaccination that was given by the Government has now been withdrawn for 20 days. "This was decided because the doctors can transfer it from one pig to another", Bora clarified, adding that further decision on vaccinating the pigs shall be taken after the period is over.

Districtwise committees will now be formed to discuss the issue, Bora said, adding that pigs will now have be kept within their sties, no matter how small their numbers. For now, however, Bora said, the process of culling pigs has been put on hold.

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