Agriculture department officials in Ratanakkiri province in northeast Cambodia said more than 700 pigs in O’Chum district died or were culled due to an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) on Monday.
The disease first struck hundreds of pigs in late March in the O’Yadav district.
“Our officials are monitoring the situation because there are no visible symptoms of ASF and the disease can only be detected if sickened animals die,” said Soy Sona, provincial agriculture department director in a Khmer Times article.
Despite a ban on the movement of pigs or pork in the province, some people are transporting pork products to sell in other villages, some of which is used for feeding pigs, Sona said.
“Because of the extremely hot weather, the pigs find it difficult to forage for food in the area, leading villagers to buy pork products to feed their animals,” Sona said. “We suspect that the animals fell sick after eating pork derived from infected animals.”
It’s also possible that the pigs contracted ASF from wild pigs while foraging for food in the forests, he added.
On April 11, Ratanakkiri Governor Thorng Savun issued a province-wide ban on the transport of pigs, pork and pork products to prevent the spread of ASF.
“The authorities, especially those at the international border entry points, must not allow the movement of pigs, pork or pork products to or from the province until further notice,” he said.
Meanwhile, China banned imports of pigs, wild boars and related products from Cambodia on April 29. This comes as China’s battle with ASF has now spread to every province and region on its mainland since it was first detected in early August.
ASF poses no risk to human health but affects both domestic pigs and wild boars. porkbusiness.com/ASF.
