Sabah launches swine fever awareness campaign
PITAS: The Sabah government has launched an awareness campaign in several villages here on Asian Swine Fever (ASF) following the detection of the virus in pigs in the district.
Sabah Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the campaign had so far been held in 25 villages.
“They are among 182 villages which the campaign has targeted.
“However, the department has already carried out a similar social media campaign earlier,” he said in a statement.
Kitingan, who is also deputy chief minister, added that 22 pigs had been culled in the first phase to curb the spread of the virus in the district.
“It is estimated that there are 2,000 pigs in Pitas and 1,000 wild bearded pigs within a 50km radius. All these animals will have to be culled.
“Wild pigs and stray pigs will also be considered for culling, if necessary, to ensure ASF does not reach nearby districts.”
The state Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) had collected 120 samples from various districts to detect the presence of ASF throughout Sabah.
Samples were also obtained from pig slaughterhouses, commercial pork sale centres and vendors selling smoked wild bearded pigs statewide.
Kitingan said in the event the virus was detected outside Pitas, the affected districts would also be declared ASF-outbreak areas in accordance with the Animal Enactment 2015.
“The focus now is to prevent the virus from spreading beyond Pitas.
“However, if this happens, we will do everything we can to protect our main pig-farming areas and ensure that Sabah’s pork production remains unaffected,”
Meanwhile, on the discovery of a dead wild bearded pig at a resort in Kinabatangan, the DVS in cooperation with the Sabah Wildlife Department has set up a team to collect samples and investigate the cause of death.
The result of the laboratory test is expected to be obtained next Tuesday.
“I would like to remind the public once again that there is no medicine or vaccine for the ASF.
“However, the virus is not a zoonotic disease, which means it does not spread to humans.”