African swine fever cases recorded in 3 districts of Nagaland

The Nagaland animal husbandry and veterinary services department on Friday confirmed African swine fever cases in pigs in three districts of the state.

The directorate of the department said confirmed cases of the occurrence of African swine fever have been established in Longleng, Mokokchung and Phek districts through nucleotide sequencing of PCR products and RTPCR by the NIHSAD, Bhopal and NERDDL, Guwahati.

A committee on African swine fever of the directorate, under the convenorship of joint director Dr K Linyü, along with deputy directors Dr Z Mekro and Dr S Amenla Walling Theunuo, visited the epicentres of the disease for initiating control, containment and eradication measures in coordination with the officers of the department in Mokokchung and Longleng district on May 16 and May 17 respectively.

“As of now, the disease is contained in Phek and moderately contained in Longleng but the situation in Mokokchung is yet to be contained satisfactorily,” the directorate said.

It said unless the public, piggery farmers and pork consumers in the state cooperate in containing the disease, it is likely to spread across villages and districts causing a devastating effect on the pig population and severely impacting the economy of the state.

It also warned that unless swift action is taken in a coordinated manner, high morbidity and mortality are going to create an acute shortage of local pigs in the coming months especially from October to December resulting in the high cost of pork in the market.