LAHAD DATU, Feb 28 — Twenty-two pigs in a Pitas village have been culled in the first phase of the pig-culling exercise to curb the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the district, said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
In a statement today, Kitingan who is also state Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, said more pigs would soon be culled, with wild pigs and stray pigs also to be considered for culling, if necessary, to ensure the ASF would not spread to the nearby districts.
“It is estimated that there are about 2,000 pigs in Pitas and about a thousand wild bearded pigs within a radius of 50 km. All these animals will have to be culled,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said, the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has conducted campaigns in 25 villages to increase the community’s awareness of the ASF.
“These are among a total of 182 villages under the campaign effort. However, the department has already carried out a similar social media campaign much earlier,” he added.
Kitingan said the ministry would increase surveillance outside Pitas and for now it has already collected 120 samples from various districts to detect the presence of ASF throughout Sabah.
‘Samplings were also obtained from the pig slaughterhouses, commercial pork sales centres and vendors selling smoked wild bearded pigs (sinalau bakas) statewide, with the focus now on preventing the virus from spreading outside Pitas.
“The affected districts will also be declared ASF outbreak areas in accordance with the Animal Enactment 2015, giving the DVS full authority to implement the disease management mechanism through the District Disaster Management Committee,” he said.
Kitingan reminded all the commercial operators to increase biosecurity management in their respective farms and to report all pig deaths to the DVS for the purpose of investigation.
Meanwhile, Kitingan said following the discovery of a dead wild bearded pig at a resort in Kinabatangan, the DVS in cooperation with the Sabah Wildlife Department immediately set up a team to collect samples and investigate the cause of the pig’s death.
“The result of the laboratory test is expected to be known by next Tuesday,” he added.
— Bernama
