Efforts to prevent and control African swine fever

Veterinary officers instruct people on biosecurity measures in livestock farming.

Since the beginning of the year, African swine fever has occurred in 142 districts, towns, and cities across 39 provinces and cities nationwide, affecting 13,655 pigs, with many pigs in the same pen having to be culled. In Lao Cai , at the end of May, African swine fever occurred in two households in Van Ban and Bao Yen districts, affecting 5 pigs, with 350 kg of pigs having to be culled. The cause was the failure of farmers to properly implement biosecurity measures, leading to the outbreak and spread of the disease.

Van Ban District is spraying disinfectant in the area affected by African swine fever.

In Nam Ma commune (Van Ban district), an outbreak of African swine fever occurred, affecting two pigs and resulting in the culling of 70 kg of animal products. Immediately afterwards, the Van Ban District People's Committee established a District and Commune-level Steering Committee for Animal Disease Prevention and Control to aggressively implement disease prevention and control measures. The district strictly controlled the slaughter and transportation of pigs and pig products into and out of the affected area, culled infected pigs, thoroughly disinfected and quickly contained the outbreak, preventing its spread and prolongation; and reported the disease situation according to regulations.

Disinfecting livestock meat trading areas is carried out to limit the outbreak and spread of diseases.

Given the risk of disease outbreaks and spread to other localities within the province, the Provincial People's Committee has directed relevant agencies, local authorities, and pig farmers to effectively implement disease prevention and control measures. For localities where no outbreaks have occurred, strict biosecurity measures must be applied, and the causes of disease re-emergence should be analyzed to learn from experience and develop appropriate countermeasures.

With a scale of over 500 pigs per batch, the pig farm of Ms. Dao Thi Vuong in Xuan Quang commune (Bao Thang district) always proactively implements disease prevention and control measures, especially against African swine fever. Ms. Vuong shared: "For large-scale livestock farmers like my family, even a little carelessness or negligence can easily lead to disease outbreaks, causing significant losses."

Before entering the livestock area, Ms. Dao Thi Vuong in Xuan Quang commune (Bao Thang district) strictly followed disinfection measures (wearing specialized boots, wading through disinfection pits, washing hands with disinfectant...).

Therefore, Mrs. Vuong's family strictly implements disease prevention and control measures. At the entrance and exit of the pig pens, the family has placed disinfection pits, changed protective clothing for people entering and leaving the livestock area, and established isolation pens for newly imported pigs. The entire farm area is disinfected twice a week, using a three-layer spraying system: from the outside of the livestock area, the corridors, and inside the pens. Each area is sprayed with a suitable disinfectant, and access to the livestock area is restricted. From feed to all items brought into the pens, everything is disinfected. In addition, the family disinfects the walkways and areas around the pens with hot lime water 1-2 times a week to limit the emergence and spread of pathogens.

Besides the timely and decisive guidance from local authorities, households with many years of experience in pig farming have also proactively implemented disease prevention and control measures. Mr. Nguyen Van Tan from Son Hai commune said: "Disinfecting and sterilizing barns, isolating livestock herds, and adhering to the principle of 'no one in, no one out' are priority measures to prevent and control African swine fever. These days are the peak time for selling pigs and raising new ones, so I focus on checking the health of my livestock herd daily and remain highly vigilant against sources of infection from outside through traders and pig transport vehicles."

For many years, Mr. Tan has consistently maintained 40 breeding sows and over 300 fattening pigs. With a closed-loop farming process, self-sufficiency in breeding stock, and effective disease prevention and control measures, his family's pig herd has not been affected by disease outbreaks.

Thanks to effective disease prevention and control measures, the livestock farming activities of Mr. Nguyen Van Tan's family in Son Hai commune were not affected by the disease.

Bao Thang District currently has 104,000 pigs, accounting for one-quarter of the province's total pig population. Pig farming is the main occupation for thousands of households in the district. To protect the livestock, the District People's Committee and relevant agencies have directed the People's Committees of communes and towns, as well as pig farmers, to implement decisive, comprehensive, and effective measures to prevent and control African swine fever; strengthen monitoring for early detection of outbreaks; and accelerate the construction of slaughterhouses and the management of livestock and poultry slaughtering activities.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Deputy Head of the Veterinary Station of Bao Thang district, said: In order to prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases, the district has provided 1,600 liters of chemicals to communes and towns to organize a month-long sanitation and disinfection campaign for livestock farming environments. Vaccination of livestock against diseases has been accelerated.

Veterinary officials in Bao Thang district advise people to take measures to protect their livestock.

Given the risk of disease outbreaks and spread to other localities within the province, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requests that districts, towns, and cities direct specialized agencies at the district level and commune-level authorities to decisively, synchronously, and effectively implement measures to prevent and control African swine fever; strengthen surveillance and early detection of the disease; collect samples for testing; and declare outbreaks to manage, monitor, contain, and thoroughly handle outbreaks, and trace the origin of outbreaks.

Livestock farmers need to be proactive in preventing and controlling African swine fever.

Simultaneously, intensify propaganda and mobilization efforts to encourage pig farmers to proactively invest in purchasing vaccines to vaccinate their herds against African swine fever; communes, wards, and towns should strengthen propaganda, guidance, and mobilization of pig farmers to thoroughly apply biosecurity measures in pig farming, proactively clean, disinfect, and sterilize the farming environment; strictly control all stages from breeding stock, feed, and drinking water; apply artificial insemination methods for pigs; and fully vaccinate the pig herd according to the guidance of specialized agencies.

To help livestock farmers effectively prevent and control African swine fever, authorities and localities continue to strengthen control over animal slaughter and the transportation of livestock, poultry, and animal products into and out of the area; and strictly handle violations according to regulations...

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/no-luc-phong-chong-benh-dich-ta-lon-chau-phi-post385138.html