INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, MAY 20The government has urged pig farms across the country to be on high alert as the African swine fever
has been detected for the first time in the country."The highly contagious disease, which does not affect humans but is fatal for domestic
pigs and wild boars, has killed at least 1,019 pigs in six farms within Kathmandu valley," informed Deputy General of the Department of
Livestock Services, Lek Raj Dahal, at a press meet today.
The six affected farms are located at Kageshwori Manohara,
Kirtipur, Chandragiri, Tokha, and Dakshinkali in Kathmandu district, Godawari in Lalitpur district, and Changunarayan in Bhaktapur
district.According to Dahal, after preliminary results of the disease were obtained from the Kageshwori Manohara area where high mortality
rate of pigs was detected in the last week of April, samples were collected through molecular and serological methods."As per the
recommendation of World Organisation for Animal Health based in Nepal, the samples were then sent to a reference laboratory in Australia for
further testing as the ASF had not been detected in the country,"Dahal said, adding results confirming the ASF were received on May
16.According to the World Health Organisation, ASF is a contagious viral pig disease and can be transmitted through direct contact with
infected animals, causing high mortality in both domestic pigs and wild boars of all ages
The virus can survive several months in processed meat and several years in frozen carcasses, so meat products are a particular concern for
cross-border transmission.It is believed that the disease was initially brought from east Africa to Georgia by contaminated pig products
The disease has generally been present in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and has more recently been reported in Eastern Europe (including
In August 2018, it was reported for the first time in China and in September 2018 it was detected in wild boars in Belgium
It later spread to India and Bhutan.While the disease does not pose any risk to human health, Chandra Dhakal, senior officer at DoLS, said,
"Livestock farmers need to be on high alert because of the extremely high mortality rate and lack of vaccine or treatment for ASF."The
outbreaks can have serious economic implications, particularly on farmers whose livelihood depends on the swine industry and for consumers
who are faced with the brunt of increasing pork prices.A decision to impose a ban on the import of meat products that may spread African
swine fever was made by a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 17 January 2019."This means the country does not have any provision for
compensating farmers incurring losses due to ASF," explained Dhakal.According to the department, there are around 116,000 domestic pigs
across the country, with production of pork at around eight per cent of total meat production.ASF can be transmitted through direct contact
with infected animals, causing high mortality in pigs and wild boarsA version of this article appears in the print on May 21, 2022, of The
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com