Warning of the risk of African swine fever outbreak in border clusters

Lam Tung• September 10, 2019 15:02

(Baonghean.vn) - Currently, African swine fever is spreading uncontrollably in some clusters of villages in Laos bordering Nghe An province. Therefore, the risk of an outbreak in the near future is very high.

CHOLEAGUE IS COMPLICATED DURING THE RAINY AND STORMY SEASON

According to reports, the African swine fever (ASF) situation in Nghe An is very complicated, the pathogen has invaded a number of livestock farms, the number of infected pigs that must be destroyed every day is increasing, especially in districts with large pig herds and high livestock density such as: Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan.

Due to many subjective and objective reasons, as of September 4, 2019, ASF has occurred in 3,799 households in 650 hamlets of 181 communes and 18 districts. The total number of pigs forced to be destroyed: 16,824, the total weight of destroyed pigs is 766,112 kg.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong signed an official dispatch (September 6) on strengthening measures to prevent and control African swine fever in the province.

Destroying pigs infected with African swine fever in Dien Xuan commune (Dien Chau). Photo by Mai Giang

Currently, the pathogen has spread widely, the number of pigs culled is large, the environmental treatment at pig burial pits in many localities is not thorough, combined with unfavorable weather, the beginning of the rainy season causing flooding, animal carcasses, waste from collection, slaughter, breeding facilities... drifting in the water, spreading the pathogen.
In addition, in Laos, ASF is spreading uncontrollably in some clusters of villages bordering Nghe An province. Therefore, the risk of ASF outbreaks in the near future is very high.

Content of the telegram.

MOBILIZE ALL RESOURCES TO PREVENT AND CONTROL EPIDEMICS

To prevent the disease from continuing to arise and control the disease on a small scale, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Chairmen of the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns; Directors of departments, heads of relevant branches and sectors to focus on directing and immediately implementing measures.
People's Committees of districts, cities and towns mobilize all resources and the entire political system to resolutely prevent and control DTLCP, considering this a key and urgent task at present and in the coming time.
Proactively arrange funding for epidemic prevention and control work: Funding for interdisciplinary team activities, disease control checkpoints, funding for purchasing supplies, lime powder, chemicals to disinfect livestock environments, pig burial pits; pay appropriate, clear, and strict remuneration to forces participating in epidemic prevention and control...
Strengthen monitoring, early detection, reporting, and timely handling of animal disease outbreaks; thoroughly destroy sick pigs and pigs suspected of being sick within 24 hours of detecting sick pigs. Strictly ensure biosafety in sampling, destruction, and disease prevention to avoid spreading the disease.
Establish interdisciplinary inspection teams to inspect and control the transportation, slaughtering, and trading of pigs and pig products in the area. Strictly prohibit the slaughter of pigs in epidemic areas without testing for ASF; prohibit the sale of pork on the street or sidewalk; prohibit the transportation of pigs, pork, and pig products by means that do not ensure veterinary hygiene; do not collect and treat waste...

Pork for sale at markets. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Strictly implement the management of pig slaughter, consumption of pig products, and control of pig transportation according to the instructions of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Direct the People's Committees at the commune level to mobilize local forces to detect, promptly collect and destroy dead pigs thrown into the environment (rivers, streams, canals, ditches, gardens, landfills, etc.) within 12 hours of discovering dead pigs according to regulations; immediately stop the situation of dumping dead pigs into the environment.
Directing the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns: Strengthen propaganda and instruct livestock breeders to regularly clean and prevent diseases...
Currently, the supply of pork is low, so in the coming time, pork prices will increase, many households want to restore their herds and production; it is recommended that households, especially smallholder farmers, should not rush to restore their pig herds because the risk of disease recurrence is very high if disease prevention procedures are not strictly applied; in the immediate future, they should switch to raising grass-fed livestock and poultry to supplement food sources for the Lunar New Year.

People in Nghi Van commune (Nghi Loc) take care of pigs with the motto of keeping the doors closed and the bolts locked. Photo: Quang An

Que Phong, Ky Son, and Tuong Duong districts have borders with districts in Laos where ASF is present, especially in the clusters of villages: Vieng-Phan, Sam-To, Phan Xa Van, Phan Ngam, Muong Pao cluster, Sam To district; Na-Nang, Muong Quan, Hom-Phan cluster, Quan district in Hua Phan province, coordinate with functional agencies to strengthen control of transportation, trade, and consumption of smuggled, suspected smuggled, and unknown-origin pigs and pork products; strictly handle violations.
Any locality that is subjective and not resolute in directing the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures, leading to poor disease surveillance and slow epidemic reporting; negligent in setting up checkpoints, maintaining checkpoints, and dismantling checkpoints when there is an epidemic in the locality; peddling pork; destroying pigs in violation of regulations... allowing the epidemic to spread widely and become difficult to control, the Chairman of the People's Committee at the district level will be criticized before the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.