AIZAWL : African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to ravage piggeries in Mizoram, with more than 1400 pigs and piglets succumbing to the disease in the first five months of this year.

According to a Mizoram animal husbandry and veterinary department official, the outbreak has now spread to 80 villages across seven districts.   The crisis intensified on Thursday when 64 pigs died, and 235 others were culled to curb the spread of the virus.

Since January, ASF has claimed the lives of 1488 pigs, with an additional 3002 culled as a preventive measure, the official reported.  The ASF outbreak first surfaced in March 2021 in Lungsen village, situated in Lunglei district of Mizoram near the Bangladesh border.

Authorities suspect that the disease originated from pigs illegally imported from Bangladesh.  Mizoram shares a 318-kilometer-long international border with Bangladesh, complicating containment efforts.  In 2021, the disease led to the deaths of 33,417 pigs, followed by 12,795 in 2022 and 1039 in 2023.

To control the outbreaks, authorities culled 12,568 pigs in 2021, 11,686 in 2022, and 928 in 2023. In response to the ongoing crisis, the Mizoram government has maintained a strict ban on the import of pigs from outside the state.

The Mizoram Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department has also implemented rigorous measures, including prohibiting the import and export of pigs from infected zones. The ASF outbreak is now deemed endemic, particularly after wild boars were found dead from the disease in the jungles of Champhai district of Mizoram in July 2022.

Mizoram’s pig farming industry has faced significant challenges over the years. In addition to ASF, Mizoram was previously hit by Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2020, which resulted in thousands of pig deaths and losses amounting to Rs 10.62 crore.