India Reports New African Swine Fever Outbreak
The contagious African swine fever (ASF) virus has been reported in Manipur, India, said officials in a Hindustan Times article.
Chaoba Singh, director of state veterinary and animal husbandry, said the disease has been detected in the Salungpham area in Thoubal district and Nongmaiching Chingkhong (Wakha) area in Imphal East district.
“So the said areas have been sealed and sanitized. One km radius of the area has also been contained to prevent further spread of the disease,” Chaoba said in the article. “The surveillance is going on within 10 km radius of the areas too.”
Officials suspect the illegal import of pigs for the outbreak. In 2020, ASF was the cause of death for many pigs in Assam, subsequently the import of the animal was prohibited in Manipur.
The district administrations have banned sale of pig, pork, feed and related items in designated “controlled areas” and “infected zones” in addition to restricting the movement of to and from these areas.
ASF continues to pose challenges for the global pork industry. Research continues throughout the world to gain more knowledge about this disease and to pursue vaccine development.
The U.S. pork industry, through a $1.7 million USDA Foreign Agricultural Service grant, is learning more about this deadly virus from what pork producers in Vietnam are facing now.
The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) Vietnam project is studying ASF in real time as the disease breaks on farms across the country. With the National Pork Producers Council’s (NPPC) help, SHIC obtained a grant with a two-fold mission to help with education, webinars, meetings and outreach information about ASF in Vietnam and to conduct field projects to learn valuable lessons about how this virus spreads. Read more here.
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