African Swine Fever Hurting North East Economy

Pashu Sandesh, 19 July 2022

The country is still recovering from the CORONA blues which has placed an unprecedented financial burden on the Indian Economy. As the country is moving ahead, there is a new threat which has created furrows on the foreheads of the Pig rearing farmers of the North East. Northeastern states Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya have reported cases of African Swine Fever (ASF). Assam became the latest state to detect African Swine Fever in pigs. The disease was reported after a pig in Dibrugarh’s Bhogali Pathar village tested positive for the ASF. All the pigs around the 1km of the reported case have been culled.

African Swine Fever is a highly contagious disease of pigs, both domestic and wild and the mortality range may be as high as 100 per cent. According to experts, humans don’t get infected by African Swine Fever, which was first detected in 1921 in Kenya. There is no vaccine available for ASF.

The current outbreak as per the pork industry experts is imported from the pigs or products from neighbouring Myanmar, Bangladesh and the adjoining states of the northeast.

Last year's outbreak was responsible for the culling of 11,000 pigs last year and compensation for culled pigs amounting to around Rs 12 crore was sought from the Central government. The northeast region’s annual pork business is worth around Rs 8,000-10,000 crore, with Assam being the largest supplier.