African Swine Fever alert in Tripura after death of pigs in govt run farm

Agartala: The Annual Resource Development Department (ARDD) has sounded alert of African Swine Fever (ASF) with the detection of a few suspect cases in department's run breeding farm at Debipur under Sepahijala district, ARDD sources said on Tuesday.

The department received the confirmation of ASF positive from North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Guwahati last week after testing three samples sent on April 7 by the department.

All precautionary measures have been undertaken immediately after the report of suspected death of a few pigs.

A team of experts from the disease investigation Centre of ARDD has been monitoring the situation in the farm and constituted two rapid response teams to handle any eventuality.

Meantime, some SOS drugs were also administered to prevent the large-scale death of pigs in the farm while all extension workers have been advised to monitor the pig health in their respective localities across the state.

However, the officials claimed that pigs usually face several health complications during summer and sometimes it turns critical. The recent incidences of ASF in Debipur farm, pig population has been segregated and regular sanitation of shelter homes was going to prevent the spread of the disease, they said adding, “We are waiting for the report from Bhopal based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases.”

“Initially pigs found available within the one kilometer radius of the infected pig will be executed and buried to contain the spread of the disease. We are trying to confine the disease within the farm and its peripheries so that the virus does not spread across the state only after completion of the entire protocol,” a senior ARDD official said. (UNI)