African Swine Fever Detected at 7 Penang Pig Farms, State Govt Declares Outbreak as a ‘Disaster’

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has declared the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in the state as a disaster situation after cases were detected at a total of 7 commercial pig farms in Penang.

As of yesterday (January 13), infections were detected at 5 commercial pig farms in Seberang Perai Selatan and 2 in Seberang Perai Tengah.

As reported by BERNAMA, the Penang State Government announced that in lieu of the outbreak, 25,000 pigs in all the farms will be culled in stages.

Moreover, in order to control the spread of ASF, the Penang Veterinary Services Department (DVS) has implemented a stamping out policy to cull pigs in farms that have ASF cases with the carcasses to be disposed of by burial on-site or special areas provided by the Penang government.

Chow asserted, “The ASF outbreak was confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted between Jan 4 and 12 on pig samples from the farms. The culling is done with CO2 gas and according to the Animal Welfare Code of Practice and Animal Disposal Management guidelines before the pigs are buried.”

“The state government will provide an area of land near roads or highways in the state to bury the carcasses due to land constraints in pig farms and I urge the public not to panic with the situation, after all ASF does not infect humans.”

As of yesterday, 929 pigs from the first farm affected by ASF had been culled and the culling exercise of the 25,000 pigs may take weeks to complete.

The Penang Chief Minister stressed that the authorities will monitor and continue to take samples from pig farms within a 5km radius of the farms with positive cases. Furthermore, roadblocks have also been mounted on roads leading to Perkampungan Valdor since January 10.

So, what do you guys make of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Also read: African Swine Fever Detected in 2 Commercial Pig Farms in Kerian, Perak