ASF kills over 1,050 pigs in 3 districts of Mizoram

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The African Swine Fever (AFS), which resurfaced in Mizoram last month, so far killed over 1,050 pigs, officials said.

An official from Mizoram's Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AHVD) said on Friday that the department so far declared 34 localities in three districts as ASF-infected zones -- Lawngtlai, Mamit and Siaha.

Mizoram's Lawngtlai shares borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, Mamit, borders Tripura and Bangladesh and Siaha shares borders with Myanmar.

Several teams of AHVD have culled over 400 pigs and piglets in the three districts so far. The fresh outbreak of ASF was confirmed on March 20 through tests in the Northeast Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati.

According to the AHVD officials, earlier last month, a fresh outbreak of ASF hit the Lawngtlai district.

The state government is monitoring the situation closely, as efforts are being made to curb the spread of the deadly disease in the unaffected areas.

Last year, Mizoram suffered a loss of Rs 336.49 crore due to the outbreak of ASF, which left 15,000 pigs dead while around 24,200 pigs were culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

The outbreak of the contagious disease started in mid-March 2021, and since then, the ASF has caused huge losses to farmers and government farms.

In 2021, around 33,417 pigs and piglets died, and 12,568 were culled due to infectious disease, while in 2022, at least 12,795 pigs and piglets died and 11,686 were culled, and in 2023, 1,139 pigs and piglets died and 980 were culled.

In 2024, the first ASF case was reported on February 9 in Leithum village in Champhai district, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar.

The northeastern state, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, has incurred financial losses of Rs 896.69 crore due to the disease since 2021.

"In view of the death and culling of pigs and piglets due to the ASF outbreak, Mizoram suffered a loss of Rs 334.14 crore in 2021, Rs 210.32 crore in 2022 and Rs 15.77 crore in 2023," an AHVD official told IANS.

The government has provided compensation to several hundred families for the loss of pigs due to the highly communicable disease, she said.

The ASF, which, however, does not affect humans, is a highly infectious disease among pigs and poses a severe threat with a very high mortality rate.

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