Kerala: More African Swine fever cases reported in Kannur

The samples were taken from the farm and sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal where the tests were confirmed to be positive for Swine fever. The health department has clarified that this is not a virus that can be transmitted to humans, but caution is needed.

Kannur:After Wayanad, African Swine fever cases have been reported in Kanichar panchayat’s Kolakkad farm in Kerala's Kannur with 14 pigs have died of the disease so far in the farm. It is learnt that the samples were taken from the farm and sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal where the tests were confirmed to be positive for Swine fever.

The health department has clarified that this is not a virus that can be transmitted to humans, but caution is needed. A detailed meeting headed by the District Collector will be convened on Monday to assess the situation. The infection was first confirmed in the pigs at two farms in Wayanand after which the local authorities started culling animals en masse.

The State government had extended the ban on inter-state sale and transportation of pigs and pork-related products. Kerala had earlier this month tightened biosecurity measures following an alert from the Centre that African Swine fever had been reported in Bihar and a few northeastern states. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), African Swine fever is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease in domestic pigs. It was first detected in Kenya, East Africa in 1921, as a disease that killed settlers' pigs. Contact with warthogs was proven to be an important factor in the transmission of the virus. (With inputs from PTI)