Aizawl, July 5: More than 9,000 pigs have been culled in Mizoram as African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to wreak havoc in the livestock sector in Mizoram in past three months.
The states animal husbandry and veterinary science department released a data on Sunday, which shows that 152 villages or local areas in 10 districts are currently affected by the ASF outbreak causing a loss of over Rs. 36.68 crore, with a total of 9,172 pigs killed by ASF since March.
The data also said that 1,078 pigs have been culled so far to prevent the disease from spreading further. Unusual death of 699 pigs has been reported from even outside ASF-infected areas, the data revealed.
The pig farmers of Mizoram have incurring huge financial losses due to the outbreak of ASF in Mizoram.
On March 21, the first pig death was reported due to ASF from Lungsen village in South Mizoram’s Lunglei district bordering Bangladesh.
So far, the ASF has killed 3,092 pigs in Lunglei district, 684 in Mamit district, 939 in Serchhip district, 320 in Lawngtlai district, 334 in Khawzawl district, 83 in Hnahthial district, 257 in Champhai district, 8 in Saitual district, and 1 in Siaha district.
Only Kolasib district is ASF-free in the state.
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science department’s joint Director (livestock health), Dr Lalhmingthanga said though the spread of ASF in Lunglei district has now become “less severe”, it has already ravaged the Aizawl district with 3,454 pig deaths so far.
A special investigation team of the department had visited Lungsen village on April 5-8 which has found that the ASF could have potentially come from neighbouring Bangladesh as pigs are illegally imported from the neighbouring country through villages like Tipperaghat and Khojoysury. Incidentally, there were reports of outbreak of an unknown disease resulting in the death of several pigs in Bangladesh villages along the India border in February 2021.
Lalhmingthanga said the illegal pig traders use Lungsen village as a stock point before moving them to Lunglei market. He added that ASF outbreak is also possibly because of pigs imported from Meghalaya and Myanmar.
