ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is experiencing an outbreak of African Swine Fever especially in the Western Province and attempts are being made to stop the spread to other areas, officials have said.
Sri Lanka’s Western and Wayamba Provinces have to highest concentration of pig farms, K K Sarath, Western Provincial Director of the Department of Animal Production and Health told Sri Lanka’s Derana television.
There are around 1,000 registered pig farms in the Western Province with 40,000 to 50,000 pigs, but the number is believed to be under-reported by farmers, he said.
The numbers being brought forward for vaccination show that farmers had previously under-reported flocks, he said.
It takes about 6 to 8 months to grown and slaughter a pig and in any case the figure is dynamic, he said.
In the Western Province, 11,607 pigs have died based on official data and 21,000 are infected with the disease, Sarath said.
African Swine Fever was first detected in Sri Lanka in 2019 and it was controlled with several measures, and this is the second outbreak, Sarath said.
Authorities are also planning to issue a gazette notice to stop the transport of pigs to other provinces.
There was a 1896 British era Ordinance under which an order can be issued, Upul Rohana, the head of the island’s Public Health Inspector’s Union said.
Regardless of whether people can contract the disease from eating cooked pork, it always recommended that only healthy animals free from whatever infectious disease is consumed, Sarath said.
Though there were requirements for inspection of cattle before and after they are killed to ensure that only healthy animals are slaughtered for consumption, no such regulations exist for pigs, Rohana said.
It was not clear whether how the second outbreak occurred. (Colombo/Oct29/2024)