Nghe An: Dozens of pig farms had their herds wiped out due to swine fever infection.

Disease attacks the farm

African swine fever has not only spread to small-scale pig farms, but also attacked large-scale pig farms, even though farm owners have applied disease prevention solutions.

Destroying infected pigs in Vinh city. Photo: Quang An

Most recently, on September 28, Mr. Hoang Dinh Oanh's family pig farm in Nghi Lam commune (Nghi Loc) had 115 pigs infected with African swine fever, forcing the authorities and local government to destroy them, with a total weight of over 10.3 tons of live pigs.

Mr. Oanh said that his family was aware of the epidemic situation in the province, so they had many solutions to prevent the epidemic such as: Proactively buying disinfectants and lime powder to spray and sprinkle inside and outside the barn area. Even family members limited going out. But the epidemic still infected the family's pigs.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Que's family pig farm in Van Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) had a herd of 251 pigs, weighing over 11 tons, which were destroyed on September 12. Mr. Que commented: The family's pigs were infected with the disease due to 3 possible reasons.

Firstly, the family used the river water source to feed the pigs and clean the barn, so the disease was transmitted from the water source; secondly, the disease could have been transmitted through the air, because in the neighborhood there were many households with infected pigs; thirdly, it could have been transmitted from industrial feed sources.

Previously, Mr. Que proactively bought 2 tons of lime powder and 20 liters of chemicals to spray and disinfect in front of the gate and around the barn area.

Identify the cause

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, African swine fever initially occurred mainly in small-scale farms, but since the beginning of September, the disease has strongly attacked family farms.

As of September 29, in Nghe An, 10 pig farms with a scale of 100 pigs or more were infected with African swine fever, in the districts of Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Quy Chau, Nghi Loc, and Do Luong.

Environmental treatment at Mr. Nguyen Canh Nam's pig farm in Hoa Son commune (Do Luong) after destroying pigs. Photo courtesy of Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Cao Viet Duong - Head of the Disease Management Department (Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine), although farm owners have had many solutions to prevent the epidemic, the epidemic still attacks pig farms due to the following reasons: allowing traders to enter the farm to catch pigs; using river water to clean the barn, or spreading from industrial feed sources, especially the rotating feed source of a pig farm infected with the epidemic, then they return it to the dealer for consumption.

Therefore, to prevent the epidemic well, farm owners should not use water from rivers or canals to clean barns or feed pigs; Spray disinfectant on industrial feed bags before putting them in the warehouse; When selling pigs, it is necessary to spray disinfectant on vehicles carrying pigs and have a cleaning and disinfection solution for people who directly enter the barn to catch pigs.

As of September 29, in Nghe An, there are still 195 communes with the epidemic that have not passed 30 days. The number of pigs destroyed is 44,746, weighing 2,085,970 kg. There are 02 districts that have not had the epidemic: Nghia Dan and Cua Lo town.