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Imphal, Oct 14: African swine fever (ASF) has been detected on pigs from a research project at Central Agricultural University (CAU), Eroisemba, in Manipur’s Imphal West district, officials said.
The district authorities concerned have declared the area within a one-kilometre radius of the particular piggery farm an infected zone based on the laboratory report that arrived here on Thursday from the North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL), Khanapara, Guwahati, according to official sources.
The Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Department issued a notification in this regard on Friday and notified Imphal West district as a controlled area for ASF with immediate effect to prevent, control and eradicate the scheduled disease.
“We’ve already started the necessary formalities after the confirmation of the disease,” says Director Dr. Ng Ibotombi of the Veterinary & Animal Husbandry department.
Of the 29 pigs reared under the All India Coordinated Research Project of CAU Eroisemba, one died on October 9. The remaining pigs died in the following days, after which clinical samples of the dead pigs were collected and sent to NERDDL Guwahati for laboratory testing on October 10.
The containment and eradication of ASF in the infected zone covering 1km radius of infected premises, the “surveillance zone” covering 10km radius from infected premises or 9 km outside the "infected zone” and "Free Zone” beyond “surveillance zone,” have also been initiated, as per the notification of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Department.
With the notification, no pig shall be moved from the place where it is kept within the controlled area and no person shall take out any animal of the notified species from the controlled area, dead or alive, that is infected or reasonably suspected to have been infected and any kind of feed or material that could have come into contact with such animal, it said.
Any person who contravenes the provisions of the Act or obstructs the competent officer performing duties under the Act shall be guilty of an offence and punishable under the Act, it added.
It may be worth mentioning here that the ASF outbreak was detected earlier at a piggery farm in Manipur’s Kamjong area in June last year.
