Yen Thanh responds urgently to African swine fever outbreak.

Hop Thanh commune is adjacent to Dien Thai commune in Dien Chau district, where an outbreak of African swine fever is currently occurring and difficult to control. In response to this situation, the commune authorities have intensified propaganda and disseminated information to livestock farmers regarding care, disease prevention, and herd monitoring; at the same time, they are strictly inspecting and handling cases of trading and selling pork products of unknown origin at markets and along roads.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Truong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hop Thanh commune, said: In recent days, the commune's veterinary board has spread lime powder on the main roads leading into the area; strengthened control over the transportation and slaughter of pigs and products from centralized slaughterhouses; and reinforced the disease prevention team, establishing mobile inspection teams operating on the roads, especially the section of National Highway 7B from Cau Ba bordering Dien Thai commune to Phu Thanh commune; regularly inspecting the slaughterhouse area and disinfecting after market days.

For pigs being restocked in the area, vaccinations are administered according to regulations. Photo: Thai Duong

To respond urgently to African swine fever, the commune deployed 30 liters of chemicals and lime powder for disinfection in key areas; inspected and monitored hygiene in pigpens and guided livestock farmers to apply biosecurity measures, especially administering necessary supplementary vaccinations to pigs to prevent the disease.

The district has established a Steering Committee, assigned responsibilities to its members, and devised measures to respond to the disease outbreak. It has promptly issued plans, official dispatches, and directives. In addition, the animal husbandry and veterinary sector regularly updates disease information to inform the public, farm owners, and households so they can proactively implement disease prevention measures.

Strengthen disease surveillance, animal quarantine, slaughter control, and veterinary hygiene control. Completely eliminate the problem of small-scale trading of pork of unknown origin along transportation routes.

Yen Thanh currently has over 100,000 pigs, mostly raised in 103 farms and family-run livestock operations. These days, large farms are regularly inspected. Photo: Thai Duong

The People's Committee of Yen Thanh district is also focusing on directing communes, towns, and the district police to establish mobile task forces to prevent and detect cases of transporting pigs of unknown origin into the area.

For areas threatened by the disease within a 3km radius of the outbreak, such as Hop Thanh, Phu Thanh, Nhan Thanh, Hong Thanh, Hoa Thanh, Vinh Thanh, Tho Thanh, Do Thanh, Van Thanh, My Thanh, Tan Thanh, Son Thanh, etc., it is necessary to strictly control the movement of pigs into and out of the area, and to carry out mandatory vaccination for pigs when they are introduced into or restocked.

For buffer zone communes within a radius of 3 to 10 km around the outbreak area, strict adherence to disease prevention regulations is required, along with timely monitoring and reporting of the pig herd's condition to facilitate prompt action and containment within a limited area.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Yen Thanh District, said: "To date, the district has provided 605 liters of Bencot disinfectant and additional support in the form of lime powder and funding for the establishment of checkpoints on some key roads; at the same time, five teams have been formed to conduct inspections in key communes and farms, urging livestock farmers to implement the proposed solutions and strictly comply with measures to respond to African swine fever, and absolutely not to be complacent or negligent in disease prevention."

Thai Duong - Hong Nhung