African swine fever is irritatingly persistent

The haunting African swine fever

Although it is not a disease that can be transmitted to humans, if livestock is marked by African swine fever, farmers will have to "eliminate" their entire herd, hence heavy losses. Ha Tinh province has mobilized farmers to vaccinate against African swine fever this year, but the registration rate can be counted on the fingers. The disease is still going rampant, becoming an endless obsession for farmers.

Within the last 15 days of August 2024, two outbreaks of African swine fever appeared in Thach Ha district. The first outbreak was discovered on August 15 in Tan Lam Huong commune with 10 pigs belonging to two households in Van Binh village.

On August 21, in Thach Lac commune, the second outbreak occurred with 11 pigs belonging to two households in Vinh Thinh village. Since the beginning of 2024, one outbreak of African swine fever was also discovered in Thach Tri commune with 10 pigs infected.

Tan Lam Huong commune currently has a total herd of more than 3,700 pigs. This locality is adjacent to Ha Tinh city and has National Highway 1A passing through, so it has a very large daily traffic volume of vehicles transporting and trading animals and animal products through. This is a constant threat to the local pig herd.

Since Tan Lam Huong commune detected an outbreak on August 15, the authorities have recorded no new outbreaks in the area for 10 days. However, the weather is experiencing development because of changing seasons, so livestock resistance is lowered while the effectiveness of some vaccines has expired. Aiming to prevent the spread of disease, Tan Lam Huong commune recommends farmers regularly spray disinfectants, sterilize the cages, and sprinkle lime powder.

The owner of a farm raising more than 2,000 sows in Thach Ha district has been “sitting on hot coals” since the beginning of the year. After giving up land for the construction of the key North-South expressway project, this farm had to invest billions of VND to build new facilities, upgrade the environmental protection system, and increase expenses for the prevention of African swine fever due to the threat of the epidemic.

“The situation of small-scale farmers dumping dead pigs into the environment or selling sick pigs without reporting to authorities is quite common, so it is very difficult to prevent the spread of African swine fever. It is now essential for people to raise their awareness of disease prevention, then the district and commune authorities and veterinary staff will take drastic action and strictly handle violations of the Veterinary Law. Only then can we ensure deterrence,” said the farm owner.

Very high risk of disease spread

Ha Tinh is mainly characterized by small-scale, household livestock farming with no biosafety measures applied. The rate of vaccination against dangerous infectious diseases in livestock is low each year, so when an epidemic occurs, it can widespread easily.

“During this period, unfavorable weather reduces the resistance of livestock, along with the increased transportation and trading activities for herd expansion, so the risk of disease spreading is very high. The district People's Committee has issued a specific dispatch to communes, towns, heads of departments and offices to direct grassroots units. The aim is to focus on implementing drastic and synchronous solutions to prevent and control the disease,” said Nguyen Van Sau, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Ha district.

To effectively prevent epidemics during the changing season, Ha Tinh Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health recommends that local authorities and veterinary staff guide people to apply biosafety measures in livestock farming.

Farmers should supplement the diet of livestock with vitamins and minerals to improve resistance, repair and cover barns to limit the impact of rain and floods. Local authorities need to focus on human and material resources to organize the second vaccination in 2024 according to the plan. The vaccination period is from September 1 to October 30.