At least 134 villages and localities in 10 districts have been currently affected by the outbreak.
The African Swine Fever (ASF) has now spread to wild animals in Mizoram and it appears that inoculation is the only option left to contain the outbreak of the killer pig disease, a senior official said on Saturday.
The state government has decided to write to the Centre requesting it to import vaccines against the viral disease from Vietnam, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department Joint Director (Livestock Health) Dr Lalhmingthanga told PTI.
"Samples extracted from carcasses of wild boars found in two forest areas in Champhai district were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal. It has recently confirmed that they died of ASF," he said.
Carcasses of two female wild boars and a piglet were found in a jungle about six kilometres from Leisenzo village in Champhai district on July 19. Cadavers of wild pigs were also found in a forest in Samthanga area in the same district, he said.
Earlier, ASF was reported only from farms and households in the North-eastern state.
"It is now believed that the disease cannot be eradicated through the existing containment measures being taken according to the National Action Plan as the outbreak is now considered endemic," Lalhmingthanga said.
He said that vaccination is the only solution to contain the outbreak right now.
"Vaccines (against ASF) are available in Vietnam but the Centre's approval is required to import them," the official said.
The state government would write to the Centre next week to inform it about the detection of ASF in wild boars. The central government would also be requested to provide vaccines from Vietnam, he said.
According to the data released by the state animal husbandry and veterinary department on Thursday, altogether 9,891 pigs and piglets have died due to the ASF outbreak since February this year.
The administration has also culled a total of 8,486 pigs and piglets to prevent the disease during the same period.
The data revealed that 43,308 pigs and piglets have died and over 19,300 culled since March last year because of ASF.
At least 134 villages and localities in 10 districts have been currently affected by the outbreak.
ASF was first reported on March 21 last year at Lungsen village in south Mizoram's Lunglei district bordering Bangladesh. Although the outbreak was considered more or less contained in December, it resurfaced in February 2022.
ASF is not a danger to human health, but it has devastating effects on the pig population and the farming economy.
The disease has been reported recently in other states such as Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), ASF is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of pigs.
It was first detected in Kenya, East Africa, in 1921 as a disease that killed settlers' pigs. Contact with warthogs was proven to be an important factor in the transmission of the virus.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)