Assam faces a new quarantine challenge after 2282 pigs die of 'strange flu'

Assam is facing a new challenge of quarantining pigs, as a mysterious flu has already killed as many as 2282 pigs in six districts of the state, prompting the state government to ban the purchase and sale of pork. Assam is home to a wide population of 2.10 million pigs.

Following the outbreak of an “unknown disease” with symptoms of the highly contagious African Swine Flu (ASF), neighbouring states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh also took several safety measures such as quarantining of animals and banning its import.

The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy issued an advisory to all north-eastern states to adopt strict bio-security and bio-safety measures, including restrictions on movement of pigs. According to sources in the ministry, these states are asked to constantly monitor the situation and report any abnormality.

“Prima facie it appears as ASF but we can be sure only after getting reports of the sample sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh,” said Manoj Saikia, Chairman of the Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation Limited.
The report is expected in a day or two, he told The Federal over phone.

During the first week of April 2020, the first case of this “unknown” flu was reported in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar. The attention of the veterinary department was drawn towards a large number of pigs suffering from high fever, and showing other flu symptoms, resulting in the death of the affected animals within a few days.

Similar mortalities were also reported from areas in and around Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh. Following this, the government issued a ban on the sale of pork in the “affected areas”, and also asked piggeries and farmers to keep the animals in isolation. Saikia said a few reports of unusual death of pigs were received from Dhemaji district (in Assam), bordering Arunachal Pradesh, in the early days of April, but the death toll suddenly spiked in the past one week or so.

From Dhemaji the “disease” has now spread to Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Biswanath, he added. Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, the three high pork-consuming states of the region, banned the import of pigs from other states and also asked farmers to quarantine their animals.

The veterinary and animal husbandry departments of these states are also on high alert and have been asked to immediately report any “unusual death.” Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong stated that pigs in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are suffering from some kind of flu and so the state governments has asked people to source pork from within the state for consumption. The Assam government also rushed special teams of veterinary doctors to the affected districts for containment measures.

“We are now waiting for the report to come. If the disease turns out to be ASF or some other unknown flu, then we will have to take the harsh measures of culling the animal in the affected areas,” Saikia said. He added that as of now, the measures taken to protect the animals are akin to steps taken to save humans from COVID-19. “We are also taking measures like quarantining animals, restricting their movements, so on and so forth,” he said, adding there is apparently no vaccine or medicine for this strange disease.

“Isolating the entire pig population of the state is a big challenge,” he added. Many of the pigs which died were vaccinated against the classical swine fever, said Assam Agriculture and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora. According to the last census done in 2019, the pig population in Assam is 21 lakh. But there are many unaccounted pigs reared by people at home.

RELATED NEWS: Bonded labourers stuck in work units amid lockdown await freedom

President of the North East Progressive Pig Farmers Association, Manoj Kumar Basumatary, stated that the death toll in Assam could be more than the government figures as many farmers did not report the number of deaths to the veterinary department.

The association, one of the largest bodies of pig farmers of the region, has already asked its members to follow “bio security” protocols, which means the piggeries should be regularly disinfected, pigs should not be allowed to mix with others, those handling animals should take all precautionary safety measures etc. “Humans do not get affected from the infected animal, but they can pass it to other animals,” Basumatary said.