Over 510 Pigs Killed Due To African Swine Fever In Mizoram

AIZAWL: A fresh outbreak of African Swine Fever (AFS) has killed over 510 pigs in Mizoram, officials said on Saturday.  An official from Mizoram’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AHVD) said that over 510 pigs died due to the ASF during the past two weeks in 13 villages and localities in two Mizoram districts-Lawngtlai and Mamit.

Two teams of AHVD have culled around 100 pigs and piglets in the two districts so far.

The fresh outbreak was confirmed on March 20 through tests in the Northeast Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati.

According to the officials, earlier this month, the fresh outbreak of ASF hit Lawngtlai district, which shares unfenced international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Pig fatalities were also reported from the Mamit district, which shares an interstate boundary with Tripura and international frontiers with Bangladesh.

The state government is monitoring the situation closely, as efforts are being made to curb the spread of the deadly disease in the unaffected areas.

Last year, Mizoram suffered a loss of Rs 336.49 crore due to the outbreak of ASF, which left 15,000 pigs dead while around 24,200 pigs were culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to AHVD officials, over 15,000 pigs died while over 24,200 pigs were culled till December 31 (2024) after the outbreak of the ASF on February 9 last year. The government has provided compensation to several hundred families for the loss of pigs due to the highly communicable disease, she said.

The ASF, which, however, does not affect humans, is a highly infectious disease among pigs and poses a severe threat with a very high mortality rate. (IANS)

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