SHILLONG, May 9: As many as 259 pigs have died in Ri-Bhoi district in the last one-and-half months due to African Swine Fever (ASF).
Principal Secretary of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry department, GHP Raju on Monday said 259 pigs have died in four villages in Ri-Bhoi due to confirmed ASF.
“Suspected ASF cases were reported in Meghalaya after a large number of pigs died of ASF in Mizoram and Tripura,” he said.
The first case of ASF in Ri-Bhoi was reported on April 13 following which notifications were issued under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009, banning slaughter, movement of pigs and supplies at Umshorshor village which was declared as the epicentre of ASF. Villages falling within one-km radius of Umshorshor were designated as ‘infected zones’ while all villages falling within a 10-km radius of the epicentre were declared as ‘surveillance zone’.
