African swine fever outbreak in Hoa Quan commune (Nghe An)

Disease hotspots

According to the report of Hoa Quan Commune People's Committee, as of July 13, the locality has recorded 1,063 dead and destroyed pigs, with a total weight of more than 60 tons, from 126 households. Notably, the epidemic has spread to 22/28 hamlets in the area.

Visiting Mr. Pham Van Hien's family (Son Thuy hamlet), we witnessed the empty barn, replaced by a strong smell of lime powder, a sign of a recent pig cull. Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh Huyen - Mr. Hien's wife said: In less than a week, the family had culled 80 pigs and 32 others that were showing signs of infection, waiting to be destroyed. With an initial herd of more than 280 pigs, along with 15 sows, the damage was huge.

Not far away, Mrs. Hoang Thi Nga's family also had to destroy 23 pigs in the past few days. Mrs. Nga is worried, her family still has a separate herd of pigs, not knowing if they can survive this epidemic.

The outbreak, after all, does not only come from objective factors such as dangerous viruses or complicated weather. A large part of the cause comes from loopholes in control and public awareness.

According to Mr. Le Van Ty - Vice Chairman of Hoa Quan Commune People's Committee, African swine fever has re-emerged strongly since the beginning of July. The main reason is the difficulty in controlling the transportation and trading of pigs between epidemic and non-epidemic areas. Meanwhile, the erratic weather has weakened the resistance of livestock, creating favorable conditions for the virus to spread.

In addition, some small-scale farms do not apply biosecurity measures and continue to repopulate their herds before the quarantine period has passed. Many cases also hide the epidemic and do not report it to the authorities, making it difficult to isolate and thoroughly handle the situation.

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Since the beginning of July, the commune has increased information and propaganda work on the commune's loudspeaker system about the characteristics, harms, and dangers of infectious diseases so that people can understand and voluntarily implement prevention and control measures, and report when an epidemic occurs.

Mr. Le Van Ty - Vice Chairman of Hoa Quan Commune People's Committee

Not only Hoa Quan commune, African swine fever is spreading rapidly to neighboring localities. It is known that many localities such as Anh Son, Dai Dong, Yen Xuan, Tam Dong, Quan Thanh, Giai Lac ... have also recorded the recurrence of the disease, the level of damage is increasingly large.

The common points among these localities are small-scale, scattered livestock farming models; unsanitary conditions in barns; people's awareness of disease prevention has not been raised; and the vaccination rate in the Spring of 2025 is low. These factors make livestock susceptible to disease.

The expert agency warned: “The epidemic may continue to spread widely. The pathogen still exists in the environment and in livestock. If there are no comprehensive measures, the economic damage to the people will be huge, directly affecting the province's livestock development plan in 2025.”

What is the solution to stop the spiral of re-epidemic?

To control and repel African swine fever, it is necessary for local authorities to tighten isolation measures and thoroughly handle outbreaks in each household. Disinfection and sterilization should be carried out periodically with chemicals and lime powder, not only in the barn area but also in traffic routes, gathering areas, and livestock trading areas.

Local authorities need to coordinate with inter-sectoral forces to strictly control the transportation of pigs between regions, and strictly punish violations such as hiding diseases and dumping pig carcasses into the environment. In the long term, converting the livestock farming model towards biosecurity and concentrated scale is the key solution to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks.

Each livestock household must be an "epidemic fortress", absolutely do not restock before the quarantine period is over, do not buy breeds of unknown origin, and strictly follow the recommendations of veterinary agencies.

African swine fever is a persistent threat to the livestock industry, especially in localities that still depend heavily on small-scale farming like Nghe An. This is a signal that local authorities need to be more decisive in disease prevention work.