A reaction plan to the African swine fever (ASF) is being developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development after pigs were found infected with the disease in neighbouring countries.— Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — A reaction plan to the African swine fever (ASF) is being developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development after pigs were found infected with the disease in neighbouring countries.

The move came after 105 outbreaks were discovered in China from August 3, 2018 to February 14, 2019 that resulted in the termination of 950,000 pigs, and one dead pig was found positive of the ASF virus in Taiwan in January 17, 2019.

The information was revealed by Phạm Văn Đông, director of the agricultural ministry’s Department of Animal Health at a conference in Hà Nội yesterday.

The swine disease has been discovered in 20 countries and territories around the world and is spreading fast in Russia, China, Taiwan and Mongolia, according to the department.

The reaction plan maps out measures pig farms of different scales should take to ensure early detection, the best way to deal with outbreaks.

Owners of pig-raising facilities should take blood samples of the animals suspected of having ASF and send them to the World Organisation for Animal Health for analysis, according to the plan.

Slaughter and disposal of infected pigs must be conducted within 24 hours of receipt of analysis results.

In areas of outbreak, pigs with clinical symptoms like fever must be slaughtered within 48 hours of outbreak without having to wait for the results.

For large-scale farms where pigs are kept in separate rows, apart from destroying infected pigs, biosecurity measures must be applied to the remaining rows and samples must be taken periodically for disease monitoring.

Termination of entire farms is required if high risk of contagion is detected.

No efforts to treat infected and potentially infected pigs are permitted.

Cleaning must be carried out once a day for the first week in areas of outbreak, and three times a week in the next 2-3 weeks.

A national steering committee for prevention and control of animal diseases has been established, according to Đông.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Agricultural Minister Phùng Đức Tiến said: “Although there are high risks of H5N1, H7N9 viral infection and the African swine fever spreading to Việt Nam, authorities in different localities have not been paying attention to disease control and prevention.

“They need a major shake-up,” he said. — VNS