VIENTIANE, Laos, July 23 (NNN-KPL) – Northern Lao province of Phongsaly, reported cases of the African swine fever, local daily, Vientiane Times, reported today.
The virus was first detected in southern Lao province of Salavan, some 670 km south-east of the capital Vientiane, then spread to parts of Vientiane, and Savannakhet Province, some 410 km east of Vientiane. Some 338 pigs have died in the latest outbreak, in two districts of the northernmost Lao province of Phongsaly, some 732 km north of Vientiane.
On July 11, staff from the Agriculture and Forestry Office carried out checks and confirmed the presence of African swine fever in two villages of Khua district of Phongsaly Province.
The pigs that have died were owned by 35 families, so officials are now helping them to bury the carcasses and use disinfectant to prevent the disease spreading.
Villagers have been forbidden to transport or sell pigs, in a bid to contain the outbreak, while the owners of dead pigs have been instructed to immediately bury them.
The Agriculture and Forestry Office has advised people not to eat the meat of dead pigs.
African swine fever cannot be passed from animals to humans, but people can spread the disease. The animal epidemic affects pigs and wild boars and has an almost 100 percent death rate. It requires high temperatures to kill the virus and it can survive up to three years in frozen meat and up to one year in dried meat.– NNN-KPL
