Why is African swine fever complicated in mountainous districts?
Unlike previous outbreaks of African swine fever, this disease is currently breaking out strongly in the mountainous districts of Nghe An, with the number of sick pigs that must be destroyed many times higher than in the lowlands.
Regional differences
According to the report of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Nghe An province, by the end of October 2024, there were over 60 outbreaks of African swine fever in 16 districts, cities and towns in the province that had not passed 21 days. The number of pigs destroyed was over 4,000, with a total weight of over 210 tons. This epidemic is still complicated, especially after the recent floods. Since the beginning of the year, the whole province has destroyed over 7,600 pigs, with a total weight of nearly 400 tons.
It is worth noting that the figures show that, during this outbreak (from August to October 2024), the number of infected pigs and the total weight destroyed had a clear difference between mountainous districts and lowland districts.
Specifically, Anh Son district is currently the locality with the most complicated epidemic developments in the province with 12 outbreaks, the total number of pigs destroyed is over 1,700 and the total weight is over 94 tons. Next is Tuong Duong district, although there are only 4 outbreaks in 4 communes, but over 1,000 pigs have to be destroyed, the total weight is over 46 tons. Quy Hop and Que Phong districts have a total of 7 outbreaks, the number of pigs destroyed is over 800 with the total weight of over 30 tons. In addition, it has appeared in districts such as Ky Son, Quy Chau, Tan Ky... With such a large number of pigs destroyed, this is a huge loss for the people in the highlands.
On the contrary, in the lowland districts, African swine fever has shown signs of slowing down, some localities have not allowed the disease to spread. Specifically, in Yen Thanh district, although there were 10 outbreaks, the total number of pigs culled was only 180, weighing 11 tons. In Dien Chau district, there were 3 outbreaks, the number of pigs culled was 24, weighing 4 quintals. Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan districts, Vinh city had a total of 5 outbreaks, the number of pigs culled was 25, and the total weight of pigs culled in all 4 localities was more than 3 tons. The figures clearly show the difference in the complexity of African swine fever in mountainous and lowland districts.
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Inadequacies in disease prevention and control in mountainous areas
Yen Na commune is one of the localities with complicated epidemic developments in Tuong Duong district. The epidemic first appeared at the end of August 2024 at Mr. Luong Van Dau's household, Xieng Nua village with 7 infected pigs. By the end of October 2024, the epidemic had spread to 86 households in Xieng Nua and Na Bon villages, killing and destroying 279 pigs, with a total destroyed weight of over 17 tons, with an estimated loss of about 1 billion VND.
Mr. Vi Thanh Tung - Chairman of Yen Na Commune People's Committee said: People here depend on livestock farming, so when pigs get infected and die en masse, it causes heavy losses. The task of preventing the spread of the disease is also a top priority for the commune. Currently, the locality has set up 3 epidemic control posts, conducted inspections, quarantined, and isolated sick livestock, and destroyed sick and dead livestock according to regulations. Along with that, disinfecting the livestock environment to limit the spread of the disease.
“However, in reality, epidemic prevention still faces many difficulties. Some people here are still not aware of the dangers of the epidemic, so they are still subjective and negligent in prevention work. Disease prevention measures such as sprinkling lime powder and spraying chemicals to disinfect the livestock environment have not been implemented well. The executive committees of some villages have not really taken drastic action. The area is large, the number of livestock households is large, the herd is large, while the force participating in epidemic prevention is thin, mainly having to do many jobs, so the implementation of epidemic prevention measures is still limited and not timely...”, said Mr. Vi Thanh Tung.
Faced with the complicated developments of African swine fever, especially in districts such as Tuong Duong and Anh Son, in mid-October 2024, a working delegation from the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine directly worked with Tuong Duong district to grasp the situation in communes with the epidemic, including Nga My, Yen Na and Luu Kien.
Through on-site inspections of households and affected villages, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine has identified the causes of African swine fever spreading and being difficult to control in these localities.
Specifically, although the form of livestock farming here is small, the density is high, the barns are close to barns, running along streams; water and waste from the farming process are discharged directly into the environment. The authorities of some communes are still subjective in disease prevention and control; they have not checked and managed the livestock herds. The work of destroying dead pigs and sick pigs has not met technical requirements; some places even assign households to destroy them themselves, causing the spread of pathogens.
Sanitation and disinfection work in affected households and epidemic areas has not been thorough. Farmers have not yet implemented the "6 no's" in disease prevention and control. There are still cases of hiding the epidemic, selling off, slaughtering sick pigs, dumping pig carcasses into the environment; using leftover, uncooked food to feed pigs; using stream water to bathe pigs, give pigs to drink...
In addition, African swine fever is currently a dangerous infectious disease, there is currently no specific treatment, vaccines are not yet widely available to vaccinate pigs of all types (there is only a vaccine for pigs), and the cost of the vaccine is high (over 65,000 VND/dose). This price is very difficult for people in the highlands to access, especially households with large herds that have to spend millions of dong for vaccination.
Mr. Tran Vo Ba - Deputy Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said: Currently, the erratic weather and humid rain create favorable conditions for pathogens to arise and spread quickly. Therefore, localities, especially mountainous districts, need to strictly implement disease prevention measures to minimize the current spread.
Localities need to strengthen monitoring, early detection, timely reporting and handling of newly emerging outbreaks, and absolutely not be subjective or negligent in disease prevention and control. Strictly implement the pig destruction process to ensure biosafety, not spreading pathogens into the environment; prioritize destruction right in the garden of households/farms with sick pigs, in the epidemic area if there is a suitable burial site. Propagate people to implement "6 no's" in disease prevention and control. Implement well the work of sanitation, disinfection; control the slaughter and transportation of pigs in and out of epidemic areas...
Mr. Tran Vo Ba - Deputy Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine
