By Firstdespatch Desk Apr 06, 2023
Agartala, April 6 (FD) In view of reported sporadic cases of swine flu in various parts of the country last week, Tripura has banned the import of pigs and piglets.
Tripura's Animal Resource Development (ARD) Minister, Sudangshu Das, said on Wednesday that the state government has completely banned the import of pigs and piglets from other states due to the sporadic cases of African swine flu (ASF) that have been reported in various parts of the nation over the past week.
The minister informed the media, "If anyone is found to be in violation of the government's decision, they would be penalized."
Das said, "An act would also be enacted on the ban so that the department can take severe action if anyone is found bringing pigs into Tripura illegally."
The minister said that the ARD Department's doctors were on the job and keeping an eye on things, and that occasionally, samples were sent to the disease investigation laboratories to be tested for ASF. If anything was discovered to be wrong, the minister said, immediate action could be taken.
Few northeastern, southern, and northern states of the nation have recorded ASF outbreaks, and pigs and piglets are frequently imported from these disease-affected areas.
Over 33,400 pigs were killed by the extremely contagious ASF in Mizoram in 2021 and 2022, and it also affected over 10,000 families and resulted in a financial loss of Rs 61 crore.
In Mizoram, approximately 12,000 swine were put to death in 2021 and 2022.
Experts believe that pigs or pork imported from Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the neighboring northeastern states may have contributed to the ASF epidemic.
The annual pork market in the northeast is estimated to be valued between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 crore, with Assam serving as the major supplier.
Both tribal people and non-tribal people in the area frequently eat pork, making it one of the most famous meats in the area. FD SB