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Biodiversity & Environment

African Swine Fever in Assam

  • 04 May 2020
  • 2 min read

Why in News

The Centre has advised the Assam state government to go for culling of pigs affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF).

Key Points

  • It has been advised to divide the affected areas into zones and go for culling accordingly.
  • The disease was first reported in November-December, 2019 from the areas of China bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
  • A few organised piggeries in Assam have been affected and the possible carrier could be humans.
    • However, there is no confirmation on humans being the carrier of the virus.
  • Earlier in April, there were reported deaths of pigs due to the Classical Swine Fever (CSF).
  • ASF and CSF are different from Swine Flu (H1N1) and do not affect humans.
  • CSF can be prevented by proper vaccination but there is no vaccination for ASF. Culling of the affected pigs is the only option.

African Swine Fever

  • It is a highly contagious and fatal animal disease that infects and leads to an acute form of hemorrhagic fever in domestic and wild pigs.
  • It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s.
  • The mortality is close to 100% and since the fever has no cure, the only way to stop its spread is by culling the animals.
  • ASF is not a threat to human beings since it only spreads from animals to other animals.
  • ASF is a disease listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code and thus, reported to the OIE.

World Organisation for Animal Health

  • OIE is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide.
  • In 2018, it had a total of 182 Member Countries. India is one of the member countries.
  • OIE standards are recognised by the World Trade Organization as reference international sanitary rules.
  • It is headquartered in Paris, France.

Source: TH

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