Outbreak of African Swine Fever : 1781 pigs culled till date Process underway to compensate farmers

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 3: As many as 1,781 pigs have been culled due to African Swine Fever in Manipur, and the Government is in the process to compensate farmers for their losses, said RK Khogendrajit, Joint Director (Planning), State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Services.
At his office at Sanjenthong today, RK Khogendrajit said the African Swine fever that started in mid October has affected 1,462 pig farms across 430 villages.
The State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department confirmed the outbreak of ASF in Manipur on October 13.
RK Khogendrajit said the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry identified 33 epicentres and surrounding areas covering 430 villages as infected zones.
For the 33 epicentres and surrounding infected zones, the Department formed 33 Rapid Response Teams to handle, control and take up containment measures including the culling of pigs.
Under the National Action Plan, the teams have been sanitising and cleaning farms within the 33 epicentres and infected zones.
The sanitisation and cleaning measures include destruction of contaminated feeds. So far, the Rapid Response Teams have destroyed 22,744 kilograms of feed and sanitised 1,462 farms, he said.
The control and containment measures also include organising training and awareness programmes on African Swine Fever. The Rapid response Teams are still continuing the control and containment measures in infected zones, he added.
Two samples sent for testing on November 1 to a laboratory in Guwahati have been found positive for ASF. However, the overall rate of infection in Manipur has declined, he said.
The Joint Director said the Department has initiated processes to compensate farmers whose pigs have been culled by the Rapid Response Teams.
The Rapid Response Teams have culled a total of 1,781 pigs. State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Secretary Michael Achom has written to the Central Ministry seeking its share of the compensation amount, he said.
Manipur currently lacks the laboratory and mechanism for testing African Swine Fever. The Secretary has also asked the Ministry to upgrade existing laboratories with the required equipment to test ASF in Manipur, RK Khogendrajit said.
He said the progressive pig farmers have been very cooperative and helpful in taking up control and containment measures. The Rapid Response Teams are still taking enforcing containment measures, he said.