VOV.VN - An African swine fever (ASF) outbreak has been reported in a small pig-farming household in My Xuyen district in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, according to the provincial Steering Committee for animal epidemic prevention and control.

Soc Trang province held an urgent meeting with the participation of relevant agencies
on May 26 in order to seek solutions to prevent the further spread of the epidemic.

Quach Van Tay, head of the provincial Animal Husbandry and Veterinary sub-department, said the outbreak was discovered at a pig farm belonging to a local resident in Thanh Phu commune, My Xuyen district in Soc Trang province on May 24.

The provincial agricultural sector, in collaboration with local authorities and relevant units, culled the infected pigs under current regulations on May 26. This came immediately after discovering the positive results of the samples taken from the pig farm.

Mr Tay noted that the epidemic could be attributed to small scale production and unvaccinated livestock containing contagious diseases along with unapplied bio-safety measures in breeding activities.

After the ASF outbreak was reported, the province held an urgent meeting with the participation of relevant agencies, the provincial agricultural sector, and local authorities on the afternoon of May 26 in order to seek solutions for preventing prevent the further spread of the epidemic.

Accordingly, monitoring the development of the epidemic has been tightened while breeding areas and slaughter houses have also been disinfected.

In addition, the province has urged the strict supervision of the transportation and trading of pigs and pork products as well as encouraging farmers to apply bio-safety measures in breeding.

Moreover, two quarantine checkpoints have been set up on the South Hau River highway in An Lac Thon commune, Ke Sach district, and Quan Lo Phung Hiep road in Long Hung commune, My Tu district, as a way of controlling the transportation of pigs into the province.

An additional four quarantine stations have also been established on major routes leading to the locality in the districts of Thanh Tri, Long Phu, as well as in the towns of Vinh Chau and Nga Nam.

Truong Van Dung, deputy director of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development, said the agriculture sector has deployed a number of preventive measures by providing statistics on livestock at a grassroot level, preparing a sufficient quantity of disinfectants, and human resources to cope with the epidemic.