JPVPP Intensifies Efforts To Contain ASF Spread In Tasek Gelugor

TASEK GELUGOR, July 13 (Bernama) -- The Penang Veterinary Services Department (JPVPP) has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), which has been detected at three pig farms in Kampung Selamat here.

JPVPP director Dr Saira Banu Mohamed Rejab said ASF was first reported on July 7 after members of the public spotted pigs at a farm in Kampung Selamat showing clinical signs of the disease.

She said the animals were later sent to a slaughterhouse in the Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) district, and the department immediately conducted inspections and collected samples from farms in the area.

“To date, 188 pigs have been culled and 45 carcasses disposed of at the first farm, while 70 pigs have died at the second farm from ASF-related complications.

“We have yet to enter the third farm, which is also infected, and I was informed that many pigs there have shown signs of illness,” she said when contacted today.

Dr Saira Banu said all pig carcasses from the ASF-infected farms had been safely buried, with disposal works completed at the first and second farms.

According to her, the number of farms confirmed to be infected with ASF remained at three, with no new farms reporting cases of infected pigs.

“We urge pig farmers to remain vigilant and to continue enforcing the restrictions and ban on the movement of pigs from positive farms to the designated slaughterhouses.

“The JPVPP is also stepping up biosecurity monitoring and control at surrounding farms, while additional sampling is ongoing at farms identified as at risk,” she said.

The media reported yesterday that laboratory test results from the Northern Zone Veterinary Laboratory confirmed ASF infections at three pig farms in Kampung Selamat.

Two of the three affected farms were reported to have recorded a high mortality rate among livestock, raising concerns over the possible spread of the disease to neighbouring farms.

--BERNAMA