Mizoram incurs 121cr loss as African Swine Fever leads to culling of 25,000 pigs

The African Swine Fever (ASF) has been the reason behind the loss of lives of over 25,000 pigs in the last five months in Mizoram. The death of so many pigs since late March has caused a loss of more than Rs 121 crore. The state authorities had to allow the culling of almost 9,500 pigs to avoid the spread of the disease, a senior official of the state animal husbandry and veterinary science department informed said on Sunday.

Joint Director (Livestock Health) of the department, Dr Lalhmingthanga further shed light on the situation, "At least 239 villages or areas across 11 districts are currently affected by the ASF outbreak causing a monetary loss to the tune of Rs 121.49 crore". On Sunday, another 130 pigs succumbed to the disease, taking the number of fatalities to 25,256. The loss that occurred due to the death of the pigs was Rs 88.39 crore. He said that the cost of culling the pigs was Rs 33.10 crore. The total loss could be slightly higher as this is just an approximate value. Lalhmingthanga said that more than 1,000 pigs succumbed to the disease outside the 239 villages and out of the 11 districts of Mizoram, Aizawl has been the worst-hit region with 10,766 pig deaths. There was a huge gap between the second-worst district of Lunglei at 4,129 and Serchhip at 3,490.

Where did the outbreak start?

The sudden outbreak of the ASF disease is said to be caused by pigs or pork which were brought in from countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. Some experts suggest that Meghalaya could be a potential major hotspot. According to health experts, the ASF outbreak does not pose a threat to human health and it is biologically impossible to be transmitted from pigs to humans. The first case of a suspected outbreak of ASF was reported at the Lungsen village of south Mizoram on March 21. It lies in the Lunglei district, which is close to the Bangladesh border. The National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal later confirmed in mid-April that the cause of the deaths of pigs was due to the ASF.

(With PTI inputs)