Limping Out Of Ethnic Unrest, Manipur Battles African Swine Fever

Manipur's Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department has confirmed the outbreak of African Swine Fever in the state and declared the pig farm of the Central Agriculture University in Imphal West District as "epicentre" of the highly contagious disease.

Deputy Commissioner of the Imphal West district and Director, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department has jointly issued orders prohibiting movement and transportation of pig from Imphal West, which was declared a restricted area. No person shall take out any animal of the notified species from the restricted area, dead or alive, the order read.

Under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Disease in Animals Act, 2009, any person who contravenes the provisions of the act or obstructs an officer in his duties, shall be guilty of an offence and punishable under the law, the official said.

The outbreak was detected after pig farmers reported deaths of the animals at various farms in the valley districts including Imphal West, Imphal East and Kakching.

Farmers reported pig deaths with symptoms like fever, loss of appetite, starvation, and death within a week.

Following a surge of deaths, the state Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department collected samples from the affected piggeries and sent them to the North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Guwahati -- the referral laboratory for northeastern states.

Officials said the department confirmed the ASF outbreak based on the laboratory report.

Recently, prices of pork were also slashed from Rs 350-380 to Rs 180-200 with retailers suddenly dropping the price of the meat after a pricing competition, prompting non-vegetarians to make a beeline for the pork outlets in Imphal city.

The highly-contagious ASF often creates havoc in various northeastern states including Mizoram every year. In 2021 and 2022, over 33,400 pigs were killed, causing a financial loss of Rs 61 crore and affecting over 10,000 families.

According to experts, the outbreak of ASF may have been caused by pigs or pork brought from neighbouring Myanmar, Bangladesh and the adjoining states of the northeast.

The northeast's annual pork business is worth around Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 crore, and Assam is the largest supplier. Pork is one of the most common and popular meats consumed by both tribals and non-tribals in the region.