African swine fever claims over 44,000 pigs in Assam

 Two more epicentres detected

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam is yet to get rid of African Swine Fever, which first occurred in the state and the rest of the country in 2020. After a three- or four-month lull, veterinarians have detected two more epicentres, raising the cumulative number of 135 epicentres of African swine fever that have claimed the lives of over 44,000 pigs in the state so far.

According to the State Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, the major problem is that there is no proven vaccination to fight this fever, leading to a 100 percent mortality rate. This is the reason behind such a large number of pig deaths in Assam.

According to sources, veterinarians have found two epicentres recently: one at Lamugaon in the Lakhimpur district and the other at Bunargaon in the Biswanath district. Since there is no remedy, veterinarians have culled the pigs at Lamugaon, and they are going to cull the pigs at Bunargaon shortly. The farmers get compensation for the pigs that the department culls, but they get nothing for the pigs that die on their own due to the fever. The over 44,000 pig deaths in the state are natural deaths due to African swine fever, for which the farmers have not received any compensation.

The disease has caused the farmers to suffer huge losses. However, the department has culled over 5,600 pigs in the state.

Some of the farmers said that the compensation amount that the government pays them is not adequate. According to government rules, a farmer gets Rs 2,200 to Rs 15,000 per pig based on its size. According to them, a full-grown pig is worth Rs 30,000-40,000 in the market.

African swine fever first occurred in Assam in 2020, just before the occurrence of COVID-19. The Government of India confirmed the disease as African swine fever in May 2020.

The symptoms of African swine fever are high fever, decreased appetite, weakness, red, blotchy skin or skin lesions, diarrhoea and vomiting, coughing, difficulty breathing, etc. According to veterinarians, the fever spreads fast in Assam during the summer.

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