Guwahati: In order to contain the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), Assam Forest Department has initiated the construction of trenches along the boundary of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, an official said.
A total of 13,013 pigs have died in the last few days due to the ASF, which was first detected in Assam in February this year, a spokesperson of the animal husbandry and veterinary department said.
The outbreak of the disease was initially detected in Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Biswanath districts.
Assam Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora had on Saturday visited the Kaziranga National Park and reviewed the steps taken to protect the wild boars from the deadly disease.
A six-feet deep and two-km long canal was dug inside Agoratoli range to deter the wild boars from going to nearby villages and the domestic pigs from entering the park, he said.
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"Most of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Assam are surrounded by villages inhabited by the tribal people, who rear pigs. Often the wild boars and pygmy hog come out of the parks and sanctuaries for food that is absolutely a threat to the domestic animals," an official said.
Bora said the state has been apprising the Centre of the situation regularly. Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had directed officials of the veterinary and forest departments to work in coordination with the National Pig Research Centre (NPRC) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to save the animal from the disease.
According to the reports, the mortality rate in African Swine flu is 90 to 100 per cent and there is no vaccine to stop the infectious disease. Further, biosafety measures can help in its containment. Earlier this year, the Assam government had already issued a notification restricting the movement of pigs from one place to another and sale of pork in some of the affected districts. (With inputs from PTI)
