GUWAHATI:
At least 400 pigs died as African Swine Fever (ASF) took an epidemic form in Upper Assam districts, even as the state government initiated measures to prevent the further spread of the disease.
A total of 1,350 pigs have been culled by the state animal husbandry and veterinary department, a senior official of the department here said.
With this, the total number of pig deaths in the state due to ASF has gone up to 40,000 since 2020. This year 12 more epicentres have been recorded taking the total number of the epicentre of the disease to 72, the official said.
A team of veterinarians has been carrying out culling operations in Dibrugarh district. In Dibrugarh district, the disease has been reported from Bhugalipathar forest village under Khowang development block where 21 pigs have died so far after getting infected from ASF.
The administration has already marked the village as the ‘epicentre’ for the disease under the provision of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009’.
The official said that a 30-member Rapid Response Team led by Dr JP Hatibaruah has been formed by the Dibrugarh district veterinary department which will carry out the culling operation under the supervision of three experts from Guwahati.
Likewise, in Tinsukia district too, the administration has declared Gauripur, Sitolpur and Philobari under Doomdooma revenue circle as the epicentre of the ASF outbreak after reports of pigs deaths came in.
The administration through an order had banned the sale and movement of live pigs and pork and pork products within a radius of 10 km from the epicentre.
The outbreak of ASF has also taken an ugly turn in Sikkim and Bihar, the official said.
According to statistics obtained from the animal husbandry and veterinary department, 40,159 pigs died of the fever in the state, besides the culling of 1,350 pigs, till July 16 this year from 2020.
The department identified 72 epicentres of African Swine Fever across 22 districts.
As per the ‘National Action Plan for Control, Containment, and Eradication of African Swine Fever,’ the state government is striving to avert the spread of the pig disease.