African swine fever detected in over 3,000 pigs in Perak

More than 3,000 pigs from three commercial farms in two districts in Perak have contracted the African swine fever (ASF) virus.

Perak Plantation, Agriculture and Food Industry Committee chairman Razman Zakaria said the disease was detected in a commercial pig farm in Hilir Perak on March 27 and two more commercial farms in Batang Padang on April 4 through RT-PCR tests at the Veterinary Research Institute’s laboratory in Ipoh.

“A quarantine notice under Section 18(3) of the Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006) (Act 647) has been issued to the owners of the affected pig farms. They are not allowed to move the pigs or carcasses in and out of the infected areas.

“A total of six pig farms within a 5km radius of the farms that were confirmed positive have also been quarantined for further inspections and sampling,” he told a press conference today.

He said the affected pigs were immediately disposed of under Section 19 of the Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006) to control the spread. To date, 990 pigs have been culled.

Razman added that monitoring, examination and sampling at all pig farms in the two districts are underway to control the spread of the virus.

“Commercial pig farmers are advised to enhance strict biosecurity controls in their respective farms to curb the spread of ASF,” he said.

Pig farmers as well as members of the public are required to report all wild boar, pig, or commercially-reared pig deaths to the district Veterinary Services Office or Perak Veterinary Services Office at 05-545 9111.

Meanwhile, Perak Veterinary Services Department director Ahmad Shafri Hassan said the ASF infection would not affect the supply of pork in the state as it only involved a small percentage of the total of 555,705 pigs at farms in several districts.