The worst of Nagaland’s African swine fever outbreak may be over- say officials

The worst of Nagaland’s African swine fever outbreak may be over- say officials

Subject : Environment / S&T

Context : Nagaland’s animal husbandry and veterinary services department informed April 5, 2021 they have observed “unusual mortality” among pigs in Mon, Kiphire and Phek districts. Almost a fortnight later, the department officially declared the outbreak and issued advisories.

Concept :

• No fresh case has been recorded in the last two weeks, Nagaland’s director of animal husbandry and veterinary service department DrBudhi Lama said.
• The cases were the highest in April, with areas surrounding Phek reporting the highest fatalities, said chief veterinary officer of Phek, DrKewelelo Mero. The outbreak is mostly under control now in the district, he added.
• The department is not letting its guard down and constantly monitoring and sending weekly status reports to the Centre and State chief secretaries.

African Swine Fever

• It is a highly contagious viral and fatal animal disease that infects and leads to an acute form of hemorrhagic fever in domestic and wild pigs.
• It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s.
• The mortality is close to 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) Terrestrial Animal Health Code and thus, reported to the OIE.

World Organisation for Animal Health

• OIE is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide.
• In 2018, it had a total of 182 Member Countries. India is one of the member countries.
• OIE standards are recognised by the World Trade Organization as reference international sanitary rules.
• It is headquartered in Paris, France.