Ban on inter-district movement of pigs

SHILLONG: The state government has banned inter-district movement of pigs with Bhopal ICAR laboratory confirming prevalence of African swine fever in them in the Northeastern states.
The government had earlier banned the import of pigs from outside the state.
Informing this in a press briefing here on Saturday, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that the ban on inter-district movement of pigs will be in force for the next two weeks.
“We will again review the situation if the ban needs to be extended,” he said while adding that the samples which were sent for testing were taken from those areas in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh where there were reports of pigs being infected with some kind of flu.
According to Tynsong, the ban on import of pigs from outside the state will also continue.
“We don’t want the disease to spread in our state even though till today we don’t have a single case of infection”, he said. He added that the order to stop the inter-state movement of pigs has been issued and it will be enforced immediately.
Tynsong informed that all district veterinary officers have been instructed to be alert and also to visit private and government piggeries daily to monitor the health of pigs.
He, however, said that sale of pork from piggeries from within the districts is allowed.
People have been advised to consume pork only after cooking it adequately ( above 70 degree centigrade)  for at least  20 minutes. The order also stated that signs of high fever in pigs and any abnormal mortality should be brought to the notice of the authorities.