29,800 Pigs Die Due To African Swine Fever, Mizoram MP Seeks Assistance From Centre

Aizawl: The African Swine Flu has infiltrated the northeastern state of Mizoram and has had a devastating impact especially on its pig farmers. It is believed that the outbreak of this dreadful virus was caused by pigs that were imported from neighbouring Bangladesh.

On Friday 3 December, K. Vanlalvena, the lone Rajya Sabha member from Mizoram requested the Central Government to provide compensation to those pig farmers whose pigs have fallen prey to the African Swine Flu in the State.

Further, he informed the parliament that at least 29,800 pigs have died due to the outbreak of this virus in Mizoram and he even labelled the outbreak as a "Disaster and natural calamity" for the poor farmers. 

He also added that the state had suffered an estimated  Rs. 8000 crores in monetary losses as a result of this outbreak and thereby urged the Centre to compensate the affected farmers.

As many as 29,803 pigs have died due to the outbreak of the African Swine Fever (ASF) since March according to state animal husbandry and veterinary science minister Dr K. Beichhua. The Minister also informed that at least 10,380 pigs suspected to be infected with ASF have been culled so far. 

He said that as many as 29,803 pigs have been confirmed dead due to ASF in 8 months since March 21 and 533 others died due to suspected ASF. At least 272 villages are currently affected by the ASF outbreak across all the eleven districts of the state.

In order to control the outbreak, the government is taking action by making significant efforts and undertaking the necessary steps required according to K. Vanlalvena.

According to the officials of the animal husbandry and veterinary science department, the single-day death toll of pigs due to ASF has dropped for a few months.

It is believed that the first case was detected at Lungsen village in south Mizoram's Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21. The National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed it to be ASF in mid-April.

Mizoram is a frontier state of India and shares inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur, and Tripura. It has shares international borders with Bangladesh in the west and Myanmar. Due to its geographical proximity, it is more susceptible to danger as compared to the other states.

Also read: Mizoram Likely to Issue New Guidelines on COVID-19 Omicron Variant

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