Faced with the risk of African swine fever entering the country, large livestock enterprises and facilities in Ha Tinh are urgently implementing solutions to protect the safety of their livestock.
Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam - Deputy Head of the Veterinary Management Department (Ha Tinh Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department) said: "As of this morning (August 21), African swine fever has occurred in 3 communes of Cam Xuyen district, namely Cam Thach, Cam Duong and Cam Due. 47 pigs of 10 households in 8 villages were infected and died and were destroyed by local authorities and specialized agencies according to regulations. African swine fever appeared right at the time of the changing seasons, leading to a high risk of spreading if not prevented promptly".
Workers of Mitraco Ha Tinh Livestock Joint Stock Company check the health of livestock.
Since the outbreak of African swine fever in Cam Xuyen district, Mitraco Ha Tinh Livestock Joint Stock Company (Thach Ha district) has put the disease prevention work on "red alert". Accordingly, the rule of "no one goes out, no one comes in" has been widely implemented; staff and workers at the farms comply with "wherever you are, stay there" and vehicles and food are deployed according to the isolation plan for each stage.
Mr. Ho Sy Huy Thao - Director of Mitraco Ha Tinh Livestock Joint Stock Company said: “African swine fever is an extremely dangerous disease. If livestock are unfortunately infected, it will spread widely and cause very heavy damage. In the face of the outbreak, we immediately "activated" strict protection measures at the company's barns and 35 satellite farms in Thach Ha, Cam Xuyen, Ky Anh districts and Ky Anh town. Accordingly, the company increased the cost of disease prevention (medicines, chemicals for environmental treatment) by 3-4 times compared to normal times. At the same time, the herd size was reduced to ensure safety (from 5,000 pigs and piglets/month, now reduced to 3,000 pigs/month)”.
According to Mr. Ho Sy Huy Thao, in the first 6 months of the year, the unit's livestock situation encountered difficulties because the price of live pigs was low, while the price of animal feed increased by 35%. Accordingly, in the first half of 2023, the company lost 25 billion VND. Therefore, at this time, the enterprise must make more efforts to protect the safety of livestock.
Vehicles entering and leaving the farms are disinfected according to regulations.
At Ha Tinh Agricultural and Forestry Development Joint Stock Company (Phu Loc Commune, Can Loc), in recent days, the unit has "activated" synchronous solutions to prevent African swine fever. Currently, all vehicles entering and leaving the farms are strictly controlled and disinfected. The facility also uses transit vehicles in each area, increasing disease prevention costs by 3 times compared to the previous period, and arranging for 100% of workers to stay at the farm to limit the "attack" of the disease.
Mr. Mai Khac Mai - Director of Ha Tinh Agricultural and Forestry Development Joint Stock Company said: "The chain has been maintained stably at 18 farms in Can Loc, Duc Tho and Nghi Xuan districts. To ensure safety during this period, we have conducted a general inspection, reviewed the total herd and gradually reduced the herd. Accordingly, we have reduced the herd from 2,700 sows to 2,200, and the herd of pigs for meat from 4,000 to 3,200/batch".
For large-scale livestock farms in the area, currently, all owners have decided to "turn on" a strict care and protection regime for their livestock.
Nga Hai Cooperative is maintaining a stable herd size of 2,400 pigs/batch.
Mr. Le Van Binh - Director of Nga Hai Cooperative (Xuan My Commune, Nghi Xuan) said: "The farm is stably maintaining 4 barns with a scale of 2,400 pigs/batch. In addition to regular disease vaccinations and supplementing feed sources to increase the resistance of livestock, the facility also increases disease prevention costs such as disinfectants, lime powder, etc. Accordingly, every 2 days, the farm sprinkles lime powder and sprays disinfectants around the farming area and access roads (while previously it was once a week). At the same time, workers are isolated from the outside area and vehicles entering and leaving the farm are strictly controlled to avoid the risk of disease infiltration."
It is known that the total pig herd in the province is currently over 400,000 with 221 large and medium-sized farms. What is worrying is that African swine fever has appeared right at the transitional season, with erratic weather, hot and humid weather, affecting the resistance of livestock. To avoid risks, farms need to focus on African swine fever prevention according to the recommendations of the professional sector.
Farmers sprinkle lime powder around barns and roads to prevent disease from entering.
According to the recommendation of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Ha Tinh, to control African swine fever, localities and units need to step up propaganda on disease developments; proactively raise awareness and responsibility of each household, livestock facility, trader, and slaughterer to proactively implement disease prevention and control solutions, and absolutely not be subjective with the disease.
At the same time, instruct farmers to comply with biosecurity measures, absolutely do not increase or restore herds when safety conditions are not ensured. Farmers need to report promptly when detecting sick pigs, pigs dying of unknown causes, do not self-treat and sell sick pigs. In addition, assign specialized staff to closely follow the facilities to guide, direct, and closely monitor the livestock situation in each area; take samples for diagnosis, testing, and promptly handle sick pigs according to regulations...
Thu Phuong
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