African Swine Fever in India | 02 Aug 2022

Why in News?

Recently, African Swine Fever has been confirmed for the first time, at a private pig farm in in Kerala, after more than 15 pigs on the farm had died due to the disease in the last ten days.

What is African Swine Fever?

• About:
  • 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.
  • Other manifestations of the disease include:
    • High fever
    • Depression
    • Anorexia
    • Loss of appetite
    • Hemorrhages in the skin
    • Vomiting and diarrhoea among others.
  • It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s.
    • Historically, outbreaks have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America, and the Caribbean.
      • However, since 2007, the disease has been reported in multiple countries across Africa, Asia and Europe, in both domestic and wild pigs.
  • The mortality is close to 95% - 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)’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
• Clinical Signs:
  • The clinical signs of ASF may occur in chronic, sub-acute or acute form.
    • In the acute form pigs develop a high temperature (40.5 degrees C or 105 degrees F), then become dull and go off their food.
    • Other symptoms can vary but will include some or all of the following:
      • Vomiting
      • Diarrhoea (sometimes bloody)
      • Reddening or darkening of the skin, particularly ears and snout
      • Gummed up eyes
      • Laboured breathing and coughing
      • Abortion, still births and weak litters
      • Weakness and unwillingness to stand
• Transmission:
  • Direct contact with infected pigs, faeces or body fluids.
  • Indirect contact via fomites such as equipment, vehicles or people who work with pigs between pig farms with ineffective biosecurity.
  • Pigs eating infected pig meat or meat products.
  • Biological vectors - ticks of the species Ornithodoros.

What is Classical Swine Fever?

• CSF, also known as Hog Cholera, is an important disease of pigs.
• It is one of the most economically-damaging pandemic viral diseases of pigs in the world.
• It is caused by a virus of the genus Pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae, which is closely related to the viruses that cause bovine viral diarrhoea in cattle and border disease in sheep.
• Mortality rate of Classical Swine Fever is 100%.
• Recently, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute IVRI developed a Cell Culture CSF Vaccine (live attenuated) using the Lapinized Vaccine Virus from foreign strain.
  • The new vaccine has been found to induce protective immunity from day 14 of the Vaccination till 18 Months.

Source: TH