Penang veterinary dept ensuring African Swine Fever outbreak contained

The Star

a day ago

TASEK GELUGOR: The Penang Veterinary Services Department has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), which has been detected at three pig farms in Kampung Selamat here.
Its director Dr Saira Banu Mohamed Rejab (pic) said ASF was first reported on July 7 after pigs at a farm in Kampung Selamat showed signs of the disease.
She said the animals were later sent to a slaughterhouse in the Seberang Prai Utara, and the department immediately conducted inspections and collected samples from farms in the area.
"To date, 188 pigs have been culled and 45 carcasses disposed of at the first farm, while 70 pigs have died at the second farm from ASF-related complications.
"We have yet to enter the third farm, which is also infected, and I was informed that many pigs there have shown signs of illness," she said when contacted on Sunday (July 13).
Dr Saira Banu said all carcasses from the ASF-infected farms had been safely buried, with disposal works completed at the first and second farms.
She said the number of farms confirmed to be infected with ASF remained at three, with no new farms reporting cases of infection.
"We urge pig farmers to remain vigilant and to continue enforcing the restrictions and ban on the movement of pigs from positive farms to the designated slaughterhouses.
"The department is also stepping up biosecurity monitoring and control at surrounding farms, while additional sampling is ongoing at farms identified as at risk," she said.
It was reported that laboratory test results from the Northern Zone Veterinary Laboratory confirmed ASF infections at three pig farms in Kampung Selamat.
Two of the three affected farms were reported to have recorded a high mortality rate among livestock, raising concerns over the possible spread of the disease to neighbouring farms. – Bernama