Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De inspected the work of preventing African swine fever in Giai Lac, Yen Thanh and Quan Thanh communes.

The working delegation included representatives of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Region III, leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Provincial Veterinary Medicine Department and relevant departments and offices.

The delegation inspected the actual work of preventing and fighting African swine fever in Giai Lac and Yen Thanh communes - two localities where the epidemic broke out a few days ago. Accordingly, the total herd of pigs in Giai Lac commune is nearly 7,000 and Yen Thanh commune is about 2,000, currently dozens of pigs have died due to the epidemic detected in the hamlets.

At the inspection, the Department of Agriculture and Environment reported on the situation of African swine fever in the area.

The provincial Veterinary Department has provided over 1,000 liters of disinfectant spray to localities. However, due to the small scale of livestock farming, the disease spreads quickly. The reason is that the specialized veterinary force is thin, creating a gap in disease prevention forces.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment requests localities to strictly implement the telegrams of the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the Provincial People's Committee on epidemic prevention; localities to establish commune-level steering committees and put mobile epidemic prevention teams into operation to patrol; strictly handle the act of buying and selling diseased pigs as well as dumping dead pigs into ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. Organize the destruction of diseased pigs according to procedures and regulations.

At the meeting, local representatives reported on the situation of African swine fever prevention and control, and pointed out some limitations and shortcomings in disease control.

The main reason is that people's awareness of disease prevention is not good, small-scale livestock farming models are mixed with many other types of livestock, making them difficult to control and easy to spread; there is no policy to support funding for the destruction of sick pigs, so people have not been encouraged to declare the disease.

Based on the reality of epidemic prevention, communes have proactively allocated budgets to handle diseased pigs floating on canals, mobilized people to build barriers to detect diseased pigs; have a reward mechanism for those who detect people who throw diseased pigs indiscriminately; established mobile patrol teams, including adding commune police forces to participate in detecting and handling...

At the meeting, the communes proposed allocating funds from the reserve fund to support the local authorities in organizing the destruction of diseased pigs; purchasing disinfectants; strengthening the inspection force; controlling the trade and transportation of livestock and animals; and strictly punishing the illegal dumping of livestock. In the long term, the province should study to maintain veterinary work in the communes.

Concluding the working session, Comrade Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized the urgent need to prevent and control African swine fever.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested localities to follow the direction of the Central and the province, uphold the sense of responsibility, and focus on handling epidemic outbreaks and protecting livestock. Communes must immediately complete the Steering Committee and establish a grassroots epidemic prevention and control team, assign tasks to members, from commune to hamlet, and add commune police forces to the mobile anti-epidemic team. Strengthen supervision and inspection to promptly detect violations in transporting diseased pigs. Do not be subjective or negligent, leading to widespread epidemics, gradually restore pig herds, and contribute to the economic development of localities.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Veterinary Department to provide specific and detailed instructions to farmers on proper livestock raising procedures, ensuring disease prevention and herd restoration after the epidemic; and to synthesize recommendations to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for a handling plan./.