Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Steps taken to tackle swine fever

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Animal Husbandry Department has allayed fears about the spread of swine fever in the State.

An official press note said here on Wednesday that a meeting of officials convened by Minister C. Divakaran had initiated steps for bringing the disease under control.

The press note confirmed that the death of pigs in a private pig-rearing centre in Muttil panchayat in Wayanad district was owing to swine fever or hog cholera.

It was confirmed by the testing of blood samples collected by the Department by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly.

High fever, marks on the skin, colour change on limbs and ears, vomiting, loose motion and shivering were the main symptoms of the disease seen only among pigs.

The symptoms had manifested first among pigs bought from a private dealer in Thrissur district.

It was after several pigs died that the owner of the centre contacted the department. The Wayanad District Veterinary Centre performed post mortem examinations on some of the dead pigs and sent the samples collected to the Pookode Veterinary College for tests to confirm the disease. It was the Bareilly Institute that confirmed the disease, which was rare in the country. The facilities for diagnosing the disease were not available in Kerala or South India.

The department had taken steps for preventing the spread of the disease.

Special vigilance was being maintained on pig farms and in places where pigs were being reared on a large scale.

Directions had been given to collect blood samples and subject them to testing. Preventive injections would be given if it was necessary.

The note asked the people not to be concerned as there was no chance of the disease spreading to other animals or humans. R.Vijayakumar, Director, Animal Husbandry Department, said that the laboratory facilities were being improved and modern facilities were being introduced as many rare diseases were occurring in the State.

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