African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to wreak havoc on piggeries in Mizoram affecting the entire state and killing more than 25,200 pigs and over 9,400 pigs culled in five months causing monetary loss to the tune of over Rs 121 crore.
This was informed by the state animal husbandry and veterinary science department.
The first outbreak of ASF, believed to be caused by pigs imported from Bangladesh, was reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21.
Later in mid-April, the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed that the pig deaths were due to ASF.
According to data released by the department on Sunday, at least 239 villages or local areas across 11 districts are currently affected by the ASF outbreak.
With the deaths of 130 more pigs on Sunday, the death toll has risen to 25,256, it said.
Besides, 9,458 pigs have been culled so far to prevent the disease from spreading further, it said.
According to the department joint director (Livestock Health) Dr. Lalhmingthanga, the loss incurred by ASF has been estimated at Rs 88.39 crore for dead pigs and Rs 33.10 crore for culled pigs.
At least 1,036 pigs have died so far due to suspected ASF outside the infected areas, including 7 pigs on Sunday, the data said.
Of the 11 districts, Aizawl is the worse affected registering at least 10,766 pig deaths, followed by Lunglei district at 4,129 and Serchhip district at 3,490, it said.
So far, the ASF has killed 2,874 pigs in Mamit district, 1,216 in Hnahthial district, 937 in Saitual district, 865 in Khawzawl district, 454 in Champhai district, 391 in Lawngtlai district, 70 in Kolasib district and 64 in Siaha district, the data said.
Mizoram shares inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur, and Tripura and also international boundaries with Bangladesh in the west and Myanmar in the east.
The AFS outbreak is believed to be caused by pigs or pork imported from Myanmar, Bangladesh and neighbouring states like Meghalaya.
Experts said that ASF is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans.
No vaccine is available for the virus till date.