Nghe An mountainous district mobilizes all grassroots veterinarians to control pig slaughterhouses

Present at Nghia Hoi market, Nghia Hoi commune (Nghia Dan) on the morning of March 6, we saw that pork was not very popular, only occasionally a few people came to ask to buy. Currently, there are over 10 pork stalls in the market area.

Pork is deserted at Nghia Hoi market, Nghia Hoi commune (Nghia Dan). Photo: Quang An

Ms. Tran Thi Ha, a pork shop owner, said: Every day, she and her husband slaughter 1-2 pigs. All pork products are brought to the market to sell to small traders in the market. Before slaughtering the pigs, a commune veterinary officer comes to check the pigs, then issues a quarantine certificate. Before African swine fever, the price of pork was 85,000 VND/kg, each market session sold 40-45 kg of meat, but in recent days, although African swine fever has not occurred in Nghe An, consumers have been wary of pork, so the price of pork has dropped to 80,000 VND/kg, but it is very difficult to sell.

According to the investigation, all pork stalls in Nghia Hoi market have veterinary safety inspection certificates issued by the veterinary agency on the same day. However, there is no quarantine stamp from the veterinary agency on the pork products.

Veterinary safety inspection certificates are issued to small-scale pig slaughterhouses in Nghia Dan district. Photo: Quang An

According to the data of the Department of Agriculture of Nghia Dan district, there is currently no centralized slaughterhouse in the district, but there are up to 70 small-scale slaughterhouses at home. Therefore, quarantine work is very difficult. At a time when African swine fever is complicated in the northern provinces, especially the neighboring province of Thanh Hoa, Nghia Dan district directed specialized sectors to step up African swine fever prevention by controlling the transportation of pigs in and out of the area and slaughtering pigs. The entire veterinary team of communes in the district is assigned the task of inspecting and controlling the slaughter of livestock in the commune in charge.

Every day, people still transport pigs back and forth in Nghia Dan district, so authorities need to strictly control them. Photo: Xuan Hoang

On March 53, the People's Committee of Nghia Dan district issued a Decision to establish an interdisciplinary mobile working group to control the transportation of animals and animal products to prevent African swine fever.

Accordingly, the interdisciplinary team will inspect and control, not allowing the transportation of livestock and livestock products from other districts into Nghia Dan district during the period of African swine fever. Inspect and handle violations in slaughtering and trading of animal products for cases of pig slaughterhouses, pig and pork trading establishments in the entire district. In case of detecting sick pigs or pigs dying from disease, samples will be taken for testing and handled according to regulations.

Authorities block and spray disinfectants at the quarantine checkpoint of Nghia Lam commune (Nghia Dan) on Ho Chi Minh road. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Con Cuong, farms and households are also preventing the epidemic. At the pig farm of Mr. Phan Duc Chien's family in Ke Sung village, Mau Duc commune, disinfection has been sprayed according to the correct process; monitoring of the pig herd has been enhanced and biosecurity measures have been applied in livestock farming to protect the safety of the pig herd.

Con Cuong district currently has nearly 30 thousand pigs with more than 15 farms raising from 10 to 150 pigs. Faced with the complicated developments of African swine fever, the district has directed the organization to closely inspect and monitor the animal disease situation, focusing on African swine fever in each village, hamlet, and household to promptly detect and handle outbreaks; proactively and effectively implement disease prevention and control measures locally.

Spraying disinfectant at pig farms in Mau Duc commune (Con Cuong). Photo: Ba Hau

The district has issued directives and urged localities to strengthen inspection and supervision, absolutely prohibiting traders from bringing pigs of unknown origin into the area; forcing the destruction of entire herds when only one pig in the herd or neighboring herds is found to be infected; and prohibiting the transportation of pigs in and out of infected areas.