African swine fever reported in Kerala's Wayanad, 300 pigs to be culled

Hours after African swine fever was reported from two farms in Wayanad in Kerala, the district authorities on Friday initiated steps to cull at least 300 pigs.

Kerala Minister for Animal Husbandry J Chinchu Rani confirmed the infection in the state and directed the pig farms to strictly implement the biosecurity and waste disposal mechanism as part of the swine fever action plan.

African swine fever has been reported from two farms in Mananthavady region of Kerala's Wayanad district.

The disease was confirmed among pigs of the two farms after the samples were tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.

The state government today extended the ban on the inter-state sale and transportation of pigs and pork-related products.

"The biosecurity and waste disposal mechanism in all pig farms should strictly implement the swine fever action plan as directed by the Union Government. Strict care should be maintained at all farms and concerned veterinary doctors of the region should be informed in case of any symptoms of unnatural deaths," Rani said in a Facebook post.

The minister said a control room has been opened in Thiruvananthapuram.

Meanwhile, a senior animal husbandry official from the district told PTI that the infection was confirmed in two farms of Wayanad district.

"As of now, there are no intimations regarding the infection anywhere else. At the first farm, 23 pigs are dead due to this disease. Soon, 300 pigs of the second farm will be culled," the official said.

The culled pigs will be buried deep in the ground as per health protocol, the official said.

When the issue was reported in the northeastern states, we had maintained strict vigil and the government had issued a ban on inter-state transport and sale of pigs and pork-related products, the official said.

Kerala had earlier this month tightened bio-security measures following an alert from the Centre that African swine fever had been reported in Bihar and a few northeastern states.

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation, African swine fever is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of domestic pigs.

It was first described in Kenya, East Africa, in 1921, and soon afterwards in South Africa and Angola, as a disease that killed settlers' pigs. Contact with warthogs was proven to be important in transmission of the virus.