African swine fever has been reportedly detected in a good number of pigs in a private farm in the Pratapgarh area in the Biswanath district.
After receiving this information the veterinary department in the area is continuing efforts to prevent spread of the disease to other pigs. Some pigs reared in the slum areas of Pratapgarh have already died. African swine fever is feared to have spread to the nearby farms from these pigs reared in exposed conditions.
Meanwhile, Pratapgarlh Tea Estate Purana Basti Line and other five villages within a one-kilometer radius around the epicenter have been declared as Infected Zone, and Baludonga and other 59 villages falling under a 10-kilometer radius of the infected area have been declared as Containment Zone in a bid to stop the virus from spreading to nearby areas.
However, carriage of animals (pigs) by roadways or railways through the declared infected zone is allowed, so long as the animal is not unloaded in any place within the zone till the issuance of sanitization certificate by the competent Veterinary authority. The order will remain in force until further order and any violation of this order will invite penal action as per law, an official press release stated on Monday.
