- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: The African Swine Fever (ASF), which reemerged in Mizoram last month, has led to the deaths of over 1,050 pigs, according to officials.
A representative from Mizoram’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AHVD) reported on Friday that 34 localities across three districts—Lawngtlai, Mamit, and Siaha—have been designated as ASF-infected zones. Lawngtlai borders Myanmar and Bangladesh, Mamit shares borders with Tripura and Bangladesh, while Siaha is adjacent to Myanmar.
AHVD teams have already culled more than 400 pigs and piglets in these districts in response to the outbreak, which was confirmed on March 20 by tests conducted at the Northeast Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati. The Lawngtlai district experienced a new outbreak earlier last month.
The state government is closely monitoring the situation and is working to prevent the spread of the disease to unaffected areas. Last year, Mizoram faced substantial losses of Rs 336.49 crore due to ASF, which resulted in 15,000 pig fatalities and the culling of approximately 24,200 pigs to contain the disease.
The ASF outbreak began in mid-March 2021 and has caused significant damage to farmers and government farms. Since then, the cumulative losses have included 33,417 pigs and piglets that died and 12,568 that were culled in 2021, followed by at least 12,795 deaths and 11,686 culled in 2022, and 1,139 deaths with 980 culled in 2023.
In 2024, the first reported ASF case was on February 9 in Leithum village within the Champhai district, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar. Overall, Mizoram has incurred losses totaling Rs 896.69 crore due to the disease since 2021.
In response to the death and culling of pigs due to ASF, the state has reported losses of Rs 334.14 crore in 2021, Rs 210.32 crore in 2022, and Rs 15.77 crore in 2023, according to an AHVD official. The government has provided compensation to hundreds of families affected by the disease.
While ASF does not impact humans, it is a highly infectious disease among pigs and poses a severe threat due to its extremely high mortality rate.
