Why are sows susceptible to African swine fever?

African swine fever is still re-emerging strongly in many localities in the area.Nghe An,Therefore, the number of pigs that must be destroyed due to the disease is increasing. There is a reality that causes great damage to farmers due to African swine fever, which is that most of the households with the disease originate from sows.

Pig farmers suffered heavy losses when sows, the main source of income for their families, were infected with the disease. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhan's family in hamlet 8, Dien Thai commune (Dien Chau) just had a pregnant sow that was close to giving birth and died due to African swine fever. She said that in 2019, her family's pigs raised in this farm system were infected with the disease.African swine fever.

In early 2020, the family resumed raising pigs with 1 sow because they hoped to produce a number of piglets, partly to sell to the market and partly to raise pigs for meat.

"Every year, sows are often not vaccinated properly because the local annual vaccination period often falls during the period when the pigs are pregnant, so families do not vaccinate them for fear of miscarriage. Perhaps because of that reason, sows are susceptible to disease" - Ms. Nhan said.

Ms. Dinh Thi Trang - Vice Chairman of Dien Thai Commune People's Committee added that during this period, the locality destroyed 50 pigs, including 6 sows, the rest were piglets and a few pigs for meat.

Statistics from the Dien Chau District Agricultural Service Center show that the total number of pigs that had to be destroyed as of April 13 was 640, of which 182 were sows, 126 were piglets, and the rest were meat pigs and breeding boars.

According to Mr. Nguyen Trong Bon - Director of Dien Chau Agricultural Service Center, the reason for the number ofsowsThe high number of infections may be due to the fact that these households have had an epidemic before, and the pathogens in the barns have not been thoroughly treated before re-raising. When re-raising, because sows are often raised from year to year, lying in one place in the barn, especially after giving birth, their resistance is weak, along with the long incubation period due to the African swine fever virus, so it is easy for the epidemic to break out after giving birth.

In Yen Thanh district, the number of communes with African swine fever outbreaks this time is up to 28 communes, the number of pigs that had to be destroyed is 1,320. Of the pigs destroyed, 40% are sows, the rest are piglets and pigs for meat.

Livestock farmers need to strengthen disinfection and sterilization in their barn systems to better prevent epidemics. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Ngo Duc Quynh - Deputy of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said: Sows are often raised for a long time from year to year, which is a condition for pathogens to remain in the body. When favorable conditions are met, the disease will break out. Therefore, households with pigs infected with the disease mostly come from sows. As of April 13, Nghe An has destroyed nearly 9,300 pigs in 17 districts, cities and towns. Of the pigs destroyed, about 40% are sows raised on a small scale among the people.

Mr. Quynh also recommended that to prevent and control diseases in pigs, especially sows, people need to raise them according to the process.biosafetyand disinfect well during the breeding process; when selling piglets, absolutely do not let outsiders use tools to catch pigs, because tools, especially pig baskets, are easily infected with diseases; at the same time, there should be a lime pit for daily disinfection to prevent outsiders from bringing in diseases./.