Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has asked citizens to remain calm and not to panic, over the African Swine Fever virus. Saying that the African Swine Fever virus can only spread among animals.
There has been no report of any transmission to humans.
Director General Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said the citizens should however inform the Department of Livestock Development of any unusual pig deaths.
They should also refrain from touching or butchering infected animals for food.
Citizens should purchase pork from trustworthy stores or butchers. People should refrain from eating discolored or pork that has a strong odor. He also said people should always well cook pork. When consuming, cook the pork meat well and eat it when it’s warm.
African Swine Fever Outbreaks
Thai authorities have issued measures to prevent this animal disease from spreading into Thailand. Government agencies have ordered high alerts at border areas to prevent the spread of the disease into the country.
Thailand’s government has denied rumors of an outbreak of African swine fever that spread after media reports of the culling of pigs in Chiang Rai.
About 200 pigs in Chiang Rai were recently culled and tissue samples from them sent for laboratory testing.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Prapat Pothasuthon said that no outbreak swine fever have been confirmed. Road checkpoints have been established to block the transport of pigs out of designated risk areas. Mostly along the border with Myanmar and Laos in Chiang Rai.
Thailand bars pig imports from Myanmar, which reported its first swine fever outbreak last month. Two other neighbors of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, have also reported small outbreaks.
African swine fever is harmless to humans but very contagious and fatal for pigs. It has decimated herds in China and other Asian countries and there is no known cure.
The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs. Some isolates can cause the death of animals as quickly as a week after infection according to Wikipedia.
The deadly pig-killing disease is continuing, with predictions the disease will wipe out 20 per cent of world meat protein by year’s end.
