Preventing disease at the end of the year: The industry ready to serve the Tet market

Restocking with caution

This time of the year is when the weather in the Southern region changes. The day is hot, and the night is cold. The rain also appears unexpectedly, affecting the resistance of livestock. This is a favorable condition for diseases to spread, including influenza A/H5N1, pasteurellosis, blue ear disease and foot-and-mouth disease.

The livestock industry in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has regularly disseminated information to raise farmers’ awareness of disease prevention and control of diseases for livestock. However, some households still take the matter lightly, not strictly implementing solutions to prevent disease outbreaks. This is undeniably a crucial time to ensure the quality and the output of livestock products for the Tet market.

Thanks to performing the prevention and control of diseases well, the pig herd of Nguyen Van Toa’s family (living in Binh Ba commune, Chau Duc district) grows healthily and the pigs are prepared to be sold.

With the price of live hog ranging from VND 62,000 to 64,000/kg, Toa is expected to gain a profit of VND 1 million/head. “In general, I put in the effort to clean the barn and ensure safety for the herd. I spray the disinfection weekly, then fully vaccinate the pigs. Particularly for pig cages, I use a mesh to prevent harmful insects from penetrating,” he said.

To limit the damage, Le Tuan Hoang (Phu Son hamlet, Hoa Hiep commune, Xuyen Moc district) focuses on ensuring biosecurity and epidemic safety in livestock, especially the time of restocking in service of the Tet market.

He vaccinates the herd periodically to ensure good resistance and frequents the spray of disinfectant chemicals, minimizing people in and out of the cage to avoid the source of spread. Livestock tools are cleaned and disinfected regularly.

“My pig breed has a clear origin and ensures the best growth rate. As for matters concerning disease, it is all about being careful and preventing them from a safe distance. Only by taking the initiative can I be one step ahead of potential outbreaks,” said Hoang.

Livestock farmers in Ba Ria - Vung Tau are restocking in preparation for the Lunar New Year. The total number of pigs in the province reaches 401,000 heads. It is expected that the total herd will expand even more towards the end of 2024.

Because of the erratic weather, the source of the disease is always present, the provincial livestock production and animal health sector recommends farmers prevent and counter diseases for pigs with great caution.

Concentrated farms and breeding households should proactively apply biosafety and epidemic safety measures. When discovering signs of disease within the herd, farmers should report to the local veterinary force to have the situation promptly under control, and avoid hiding or arbitrarily handling the situation on their own as it can easily lead to disease outbreaks.

The key tasks at the end of the year

Since the beginning of the year, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health has used 1.3 million doses of vaccine for livestock to strengthen disease prevention and control. There are 689,000 doses of avian influenza vaccine and more than 89,000 doses of vaccines for African swine fever and blue ear disease used.

According to Nguyen Xuan Trung, Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health, the province recorded 12 cases of disease outbreaks on cattle and poultry, consisting of 10 African swine fever outbreaks, 1 avian influenza outbreak and 1 lumpy skin disease outbreak.

“Immediately after the disease occurs, the Sub-Department has instructed farmers to discard sick livestock as per regulations, organized information dissemination, and provided guidance so farmers can prevent disease more effectively. The outbreaks of animal diseases have been controlled at present, not spreading on a wide range,” said Director Trung.

“This is a crucial time for the provincial livestock industry. It not only contributes to improving the production value of the industry at the end of the year but also puts a strong emphasis on disease prevention and control. Local veterinary forces have come up with concrete plans to strengthen the supervision and inspection of farms. Livestock businesses are also aware of how crucial the livestock batch of this period is,” said Phan Van Trai, Head of Department of Professional Affairs, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health.