African swine fever is showing complicated developments in Quang Ngai

The People's Committee of Son Tinh commune issued a document on July 11, requesting Quang Ngai Department of Agriculture and Environment to send veterinary experts to support the locality in preventing and controlling African swine fever.

Previously, on July 4, Son Tinh commune received information that one pig belonging to Nguyen Thi Kim Quy's household (Binh Tho village) had died of disease. Suspecting signs of African swine fever, the People's Committee of Son Tinh commune reported to the Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health to take samples for testing.

According to the test results of the Central Veterinary Diagnosis and Testing Center II on July 5, the pig herd of Nguyen Thi Kim Quy's family tested positive for African swine fever. The People's Committee of Son Tinh commune immediately mobilized personnel to the disease area and destroyed the pigs according to regulations.

Despite ample efforts, African swine fever still showed complicated developments, spreading rapidly in many villages in the commune. As of July 11, 100 pigs from 23 households in 11 villages in Son Tinh commune were infected with the disease. Accordingly, the sick and dead pigs all showed signs of loss of appetite, hemorrhagic fever all over the body, and lethargic eyes. The People's Committee of Son Tinh commune thus quickly reacted and destroyed all of the infected pigs.

The People's Committee of Son Tinh commune has actively proposed solutions to control the epidemic in response to the unpredictable epidemic situation. The commune People's Committee has established a Steering Committee and a group to assist its operation in the process of preventing and controlling African swine fever.

Local authorities are urged to deploy prevention and control work, focusing on strengthening the monitoring of the epidemic situation and carrying out disinfection in areas where epidemics occur. Functional forces will also promote communication work, instruct livestock farmers to clean barns, and spray disinfectants to prevent the spread of epidemics.

In the long term, the People's Committee of Son Tinh commune will strengthen information dissemination work to raise awareness of local farmers and reduce behaviors that cause and spread diseases, such as selling and slaughtering sick pigs for food or dumping dead pigs into the environment. Local farmers are instructed to proactively apply prevention methods and report when pigs are found to be sick or dying unexpectedly for unknown reasons.

In a report sent to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Ngai province, Huynh Van Vien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Tinh commune, mentioned the complicated nature of the epidemic situation in the commune as the disease spread quickly and was difficult to control. Meanwhile, the People's Committee of Son Tinh commune lacks officials or civil servants with veterinary expertise, which has significantly complicated the struggle against the epidemic.

Son Tinh Commune People's Committee therefore requested Quang Ngai Department of Agriculture and Environment to send staff and support epidemic prevention work, giving out directives so the Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health can continue strengthening epidemic prevention, controlling slaughter, and timely conducting disease surveillance.

The leader of the Quang Ngai Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health said, “As soon as we learned about the African swine fever situation, the unit went down to support the People's Committee of Son Tinh commune, implement prevention and control measures, collect samples for testing, and verify the disease. At the same time, the Sub-Department advised Quang Ngai Department of Agriculture and Environment to provide chemical supplies for the locality to increase the efficiency of disease prevention and control work.”

Continuously from July 6 to 10, African swine fever spread rapidly to the villages of Ha Nhai Bac, Tho Loc Bac, Ha Tay, Ha Trung, Phuoc Loc Dong, Dien Nien, An Tho, Binh Tho, Thon Tay, Phuoc Loc Tay, and Binh Nam. Up to now, Son Tinh commune has recorded 23 other livestock households in the commune detecting sick or dead pigs.

People of Son Tinh commune are encouraged to proactively clean their barns, spray disinfectants to prevent epidemics, and not arbitrarily sell sick or dead pigs. Local authorities also disseminate information to 14 slaughterhouses in the area to prevent them from slaughtering, transporting, and trading sick pigs or animal products of unknown origins.