African swine flu outbreak strikes Tripura's piggery business

By  Firstdespatch Desk   Nov 02, 2023

Agartala, Nov 2 (FD) A serious setback has hit the piggery business in Tripura, as reports of a deadly African swine flu infection outbreak have emerged from Batapura village in East Ramchandra Ghat, under the jurisdiction of the Khowai police station.

Rabindra Das, who established a pig farm in Batapura village three years ago, faced a significant loss when numerous pigs and piglets on his farm succumbed to unknown illnesses.

Local residents, alarmed by the situation, urged Das to contact the Department of Animal Resources and also filed complaints with both the Khowai police station and the animal resources department.

Although initial complaints were disregarded as alarmist, officials from the animal resource department eventually conducted tests on the pigs and sent samples to a laboratory in Guwahati.

Shockingly, the Guwahati laboratory confirmed that the pigs on Das's farm had been infected with the deadly African swine flu virus.

As a precaution, the animal resource department ordered the culling of all pigs within a ten-kilometre radius of the affected farm, with the option to bury or burn them.

Local residents are now expressing concern about the potential spread of the virus, especially in areas where piglets from Das's farm were sold.

The animal resource agency issued a statement on November 1st, instilling dread and worry among residents living near the concerned farm and in areas where the diseased pigs were distributed. FD SB