African swine fever grips Assam’s Lakhimpur, 1,000 pigs culled

Lakhimpur (Assam) [India], September 4 (ANI): A team of veterinarians culled more than 1,000 pigs to contain the spread of the African swine fever infection in Assam’s Lakhimpur, said an official on Monday.

According to the Lakhimpur district animal husbandry and health officer Kuladhar Saikia, “A team of 10 doctors has culled more than 1,000 pigs through electricity shocks due to the outbreak of African swine fever infection in the Lakhimpur district.”

The African swine fever has wreaked havoc in Lakhimpur. This is the reason nearly a thousand pigs have been culled through electricity shocks, added the health officer.

The government culled 1,378 pigs spread across 27 epicentres to contain the spread of the disease in the north-eastern state, he added.

Earlier this year, the Assam government imposed a ban on the entry of poultry and pigs in the state from other states following the outbreak of Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever in some states of the country.

Assam Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora said, “The step has been taken to prevent the spread of Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever in poultry and pigs in Assam and other North Eastern states.”

“In view of the outbreak of Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever in a few states of the country, the Assam government has imposed a temporary ban on entry of poultry, and pigs from outside of the state to Assam as a precautionary measure through the western border of the state in the interest of preventing the spread of the disease to Assam and other North Eastern states,” Atul Bora added.

Notably, the administration culled over 700 pigs amid the African Swine Flu scare in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district in January.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. It is the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF).

The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause the death of animals as quickly as a week after infection.