AIZAWL: As many as 4848 pigs and piglets have died in the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) since its recurrence from February this year in Mizoram.

This was revealed in the data released by Mizoram animal husbandry and veterinary department. 

39 pigs died on Sunday in Mizoram due to ASF and 11 others suspected to be infected with the pig disease also died on the same day, the data said.

So far, 4077 pigs have been culled in Mizoram to prevent further spread of ASF in its recurrence and 11 of them were culled on Sunday, it said.

Altogether, 641 pigs have died due to pig diseases suspected to be of ASF and the actual cause of deaths are yet to ascertain, it said. 

The highly contagious pig disease has currently affected 68 villages and localities in nine out of eleven districts, the data said.

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Earlier, state animal husbandry and veterinary minister Dr. K. Beichhua had said that the state government would soon declare the ASF outbreak as a state disaster.

He hopes that farmers, who lost pigs due to ASF will be compensated for their losses once the outbreak is declared a disaster. 

The minister had also said that the Centre has already released funds to compensate the culled pigs and assistance would be released once the state government meets its matching share, which is 50 per cent of the fund sanctioned by the Centre.

The outbreak of ASF was first reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21 last year. 

The outbreak was believed to be caused by pigs illegally imported from the neighbouring state, according to officials.

As many as 33,417 pigs had died due to the outbreak of ASF last year causing monetary losses to the tune of Rs 60.82 crore.

A total of 10,910 pigs have also been culled to prevent further spread of ASF the same year.

Initially considered more or less contained as no pig death due to ASF was reported since December last year, the highly contagious pig disease resurfaced in February this year.

Mizoram has already banned import of pigs and pork products from other states and countries on April 2.

Mizoram shares inter-state boundaries with Assam, Manipur and Tripura and international borders with Bangladesh in the west and Myanmar in the east.