Mizoram: Over 38k pigs killed or culled as ASF outbreak continues

Aizawl: Even though over 14,310 pigs were killed and over 23,720 pigs culled in Mizoram after the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in eight-and-a-half- months ago, the number of pig deaths due to the contagious disease reasonably reduced during the past few days.

A senior Mizoram Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (AHV) Department official said that due to the outbreak of ASF, a large number of farmers across the state incurred huge losses.

“It is now a positive sign that the intensity of pig deaths due to the ASF has reduced. On Monday, 52 pigs died and 26 pigs were culled in different districts across the state. Earlier their rate of deaths and culling was much higher,” an AHV Department official told IANS.

According to department officials and experts, the outbreak of ASF mostly occurs when the climate begins to warm up and pre-monsoon rain commences in the state.

During the beginning of the winter and in the entire winter period the deaths due to ASF are much less or zero deaths, they said.

However, the AHV Department officials said that though the ratio of pig deaths due to ASF and culling has reduced reasonably in the past few days, the outbreak of the infectious disease continues unabated in a few districts.

As per unofficial estimates, pig farmers and rearers in six of the 11 districts in the mountainous bordering state have suffered huge losses of around 190 crore this year due to the outbreak of this communicable disease since February 9.

The ASF was first reported bordering Mizoram in 2021, when according to the AHV Department officials, 33,420 pigs and piglets died due to the contagious disease while 12,800 pigs and piglets died in 2022 and 1,040 in 2023.

The first case of ASF in Mizoram was reported in mid-March, 2021, from Lungsen village in Lunglei district along the Bangladesh border and since then, the disease has resurfaced every year.

“The pig farmers of Mizoram suffered a loss of nearly Rs 850 crore following the outbreak of ASF in the state since 2021,” the AHV Department official said, referring to anticipated calculation.

This year’s first ASF case was reported on February 9 in Leithum village in Champhai district, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar.

According to the AHV officials, the pigs both in government and private farms and homes in over 251 villages in six districts -- Aizawl, Champhai, Lunglei, Saitual, Khawzawl and Serchhip -- have been infected by the ASF outbreak so far.

After the outbreak of ASF, the AHV department following the Central government’s guidelines has declared various villages and localities in six districts of the 11 districts in Mizoram as infected areas under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Disease in Animals Act, 2009.

The department has barred the supply of pigs, piglets and pork from the infected areas to prevent the spread of the ASF virus in unaffected areas.

The state government also prohibited the import of pigs and piglets from adjoining northeastern states and from neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh where also often ASF infestations are being reported.

The outbreak of ASF in Mizoram may have been caused by pigs or pork brought from neighbouring Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the adjoining states of the northeast, experts observed.

The Mizoram government has sought central funds and has provided compensation from the state exchequer to several hundred families for the loss of pigs due to the disease.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long unfenced border with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh.

Pork is one of the most common and popular meats consumed by both the tribals and non-tribals in the northeastern region.

With heavy demand for pork in the region, its annual business is worth around Rs 8,000-10,000 crore in the northeast region, with Assam being the largest supplier.

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.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujitchakrabortyne@gmail.com)