Mizoram suffers Rs 114.64 crore loss due to African Swine Fever in 2025

Mizoram incurred a financial loss of Rs 114.64 crore in 2025 due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), which claimed the lives of more than 9,700 pigs, an official of the state’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department said.
Deputy Director (Disease Investigation and Epidemiology) Esther Lalzoliani Ralte told PTI that 9,711 pigs died due to ASF, while 3,620 others were culled to prevent further spread of the disease between March and December last year. The outbreak affected 3,867 families across the state during the same period.
According to the official, ASF was first reported in Mizoram on March 21, 2021, at Lungsen village in Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border. Since then, the disease has had a devastating impact on the state’s pig population, with 72,012 pigs killed, affecting over 12,500 families and causing cumulative financial losses amounting to Rs 1,011.27 crore.
Of the total, 52,979 pigs were culled as a preventive measure since 2021, Ralte said. The last reported pig deaths due to ASF in the state occurred on December 8 last year.
She said that compensation amounting to over Rs 14.51 crore, received from both the Centre and the state government, has been disbursed to pig farmers for animals culled up to 2023. A proposal seeking Rs 24.94 crore as compensation for pigs culled in 2024 has been submitted to the Centre, with the amount to be shared equally by the Centre and the state government. However, no financial aid is provided for pigs that die due to ASF, she added.
Mizoram recorded the highest pig fatalities in 2021, when 33,417 pigs died, followed by 14,950 deaths in 2024 and 12,795 in 2022. The state also suffered its highest financial loss in 2024, estimated at Rs 336.4 crore, followed by Rs 334.14 crore in 2021 and Rs 210.32 crore in 2022.
Ralte noted that ASF outbreaks tend to subside during winter but resurge during warmer months. She also recalled that Mizoram had earlier been affected by Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2020, which killed thousands of pigs and piglets and caused losses estimated at Rs 10.62 crore.