Avoiding African swine fever thanks to bio-safe livestock farming

Prevention is key

According to Huynh Ngoc Diep, Director of Binh Dinh Sub-department of Livestock Production and Animal Health, in the context of African swine fever rampaging in many localities this year, the province's pig herd of nearly 1 million was able to escape its influence, thanks to farmers implementing bio-safe solutions.

Diep believes that the African swine fever virus persistently exists in the environment, so there remains the possibility of an outbreak. But if farmers apply biosecurity standards in livestock farming, they can effectively prevent this disease.

“As a viral disease, it is hard to detect the development of African swine fever. Regarding disease prevention work, Binh Dinh’s veterinary industry guides farmers to promote bio-safe methods in livestock farming, for example, performing full vaccination against classical cholera, foot-and-mouth disease, and pasteurellosis. The caring stage for pigs will be paid additional attention to improve their resistance enough to counter the infectious nature of the African swine fever virus," said Director Huynh Ngoc Diep.

Strictly controlling the access of people going to the livestock area while regularly cleaning and disinfecting the barn can also effectively present a viral disease like African swine fever. After selling pigs, farmers can take caution by pouring gasoline on the floor of the barn to create a fire for disinfection or pouring boiling water over the floor to kill bacteria and ensure the farming environment.

Effective folk disease prevention methods

Nguyen Van Binh has more than 10 years of experience raising pigs in An Duc commune (Hoai An district, Binh Dinh). His barn always has more than 100 pigs of all ages. Binh raises 6 breeding sows to be proactive in terms of breed sources.

Because his family does not have the means, the pig farm is quite shabby. Behind the house, Binh builds two rows of barns, using the normal structure like other livestock farmers in the area.

One thing to note is that since he started this pig farming profession, his pigs have never been infected with African swine fever. At one point, all of the pig farms in the village get sick, only Binh’s farm is “immune”.

“Since my pig barn is not a closed model, I need to be careful to prevent the African swine fever virus from entering. I regularly disinfect the barn and the surrounding area. Along with restricting outsiders from entering the barn, I set up many layers of nets in case insects from outside carry viruses into the barn,” Binh said.

In particular, traders who come to buy pigs have to disinfect their bodies and change their footwear before entering the farming area. Even the baskets and trucks carrying the pigs are thoroughly disinfected.

Binh arranges the pig-weighing area far away from the barn. “After selling the pigs, I immediately disinfected the trading area, boiled water and splashed it all over the floor to kill the virus, then released a new batch of pig breeds to continue raising. As a result, for many years my pigs have not been harmed by African swine fever”.

According to Nguyen Van Tuc, Deputy Head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hoai An district, this locality regularly maintains a herd of no less than 300,000 pigs. Since 2021, farmers here have been able to escape the horror of African swine fever, raising pigs with peace of mind.

"Local authorities have put in great efforts to raise farmers’ awareness. Now they are very compliant with biosecurity requirements and regularly disinfect their barns. After covering the barn with a net system, they spray lime powder around the barn and outside the net once a week. Thanks to the epidemic in the area being under control in recent years, even though pork prices are low at the moment, farmers still boldly restock to prepare for the upcoming Lunar New Year,” said Deputy Head Nguyen Van Tuc.