Why did African swine fever re-emerge in Nghe An?

The whole province destroyed 1,244 pigs.

This September, Hung Nguyen district destroyed infected pigs almost every day.African swine feverWhile pork prices are high, the epidemic has caused great damage to people.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan in Hamlet 1, Hung Nghia Commune (Hung Nguyen) regularly sprinkles lime powder and sprays chemicals to prevent diseases for her family's pigs. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Hung Nghia Commune is the locality with the highest number of pigs infected with African swine fever in the district at this time. Mr. Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of Hung Nghia Commune People's Committee said: African swine fever re-emerged in the commune since September 11. By September 28, the whole commune had to destroy 55 pigs, with a total weight of 4.3 tons.

Currently, pig farmers are actively preventing epidemics by all means: Sprinkling lime powder, spraying disinfectants daily, covering barns tightly, and absolutely not allowing outsiders to enter.

At the same time, the commune received 60 liters of chemicals, provided them to households for self-spraying; and allocated the budget to buy supplies for pig culling.

During this outbreak, Nghe An has culled 1,244 pigs. Photo: Quang An

In this outbreak, as of September 28, in Hung Nguyen district, there are 8 communes that have not passed 21 days of the epidemic, including: Hung Nghia, Hung My, Xuan Lam, Hung Trung, town, Hung Yen Bac, Hung Thong and Hung Dao; with 51 households having pigs infected with the disease; the total number of pigs destroyed is 200, with a total weight of over 13 tons.

Mr. Hoang Duc An - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hung Nguyen district said: During this outbreak, the district provided nearly 400 liters of chemicals to 14 communes and towns to organize disinfection spraying.

The biggest difficulty in disease prevention is that communes do not have veterinary staff, so when pigs get sick, farmers do not know what disease it is. Previously, taking samples for testing was done by commune veterinary staff, but now it is done by district veterinary staff, while the district veterinary team is small, so it is not timely."

Mr. Hoang Duc An - Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Hung Nguyen district

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, as of September 28, Nghe An has 37 communes in 12 districts that have not passed 21 days of the epidemic. Including the following districts: Ky Son 3 communes; Nghi Loc 7 communes; Que Phong 5 communes; Hung Nguyen 8 communes; Vinh City 3 wards and communes; Tuong Duong 3 communes; Anh Son 3 communes; Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau and Con Cuong districts, each district has 1 commune. The total number of pigs culled is 1,244.

Why is the epidemic re-emerging?

Regarding the cause of the outbreak of African swine fever in the commune, Mr. Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of Hung Nghia Commune People's Committee said: Among the 13 households with pigs that have just been infected with the disease, most of them are relapses after the epidemic in 2019. Because the price of pigs is high, when pigs get sick, households try to treat them, and only report when the pigs die, so the disease is incubated for a long time in the barn, spreading outside.

Professional agencies and authorities of Hung Nghia commune (Hung Nguyen) destroy pigs infected with African swine fever. Photo: Quang An

A veterinary officer ofHung Nguyen districtShare, most of the sick pigs reported by people, we came to take samples for testing were dead.

Mr. Ngo Duc Quynh - Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said: The reason for the recent resurgence of African swine fever in the province is that the pathogen is widely circulating in livestock herds and in the farming environment. Pig prices are high, so when pigs get sick, people do not report to local authorities but sell them quickly, or slaughter sick pigs themselves and share the meat, making the disease spread uncontrollably. Some households arbitrarily re-herd without ensuring hygiene conditions for disease prevention; taking advantage of untreated leftover food to feed pigs.

Due to complex weather conditions, pathogens remain in the environment... when exposed to unfavorable weather conditions for livestock, diseases will break out and spread. At the same time, livestock have not been vaccinated against diseases according to regulations, so they have no immunity to other diseases.

When the epidemic re-emerged in Que Phong district, the district People's Committee directed communes to set up epidemic control checkpoints on main roads. Photo: Quang An

"In the province, small-scale farming still accounts for the majority, without fully applying measures.biosecurity farming, while the weather is currently changing seasons, creating favorable conditions for pathogens to survive and spread. Meanwhile, the transportation, slaughtering, and trading of animals and animal products in many localities have not been strictly controlled... Therefore, in the coming time, the risk of epidemics, including African swine fever, will continue to spread and spread very high" - Mr. Ngo Duc Quynh warned.