Do not let the epidemic spread
Currently, African swine fever is occurring in 20 provinces and cities across the country. In Gia Lai province, since the end of June, 3 outbreaks have been recorded in some communes and wards. Worryingly, the situation of people secretly dumping dead pigs into canals, rivers and streams is still common, posing a potential risk of spreading the disease widely.
Faced with the complicated developments of the epidemic, Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee Pham Anh Tuan requested heads of departments, branches and Chairmen of People's Committees of communes and wards to take action with the highest sense of responsibility; mobilize all resources to resolutely implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic.
Communes and wards where outbreaks occur must urgently contain, control, and suppress the epidemic in a timely manner to prevent spread. In case the epidemic develops rapidly, the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level needs to proactively review and announce the epidemic according to regulations.
Direct specialized agencies at the commune level to coordinate with local Livestock and Veterinary Stations and the Police to organize inspections and control of livestock and slaughterhouses; guide and direct the handling of dead and sick animals, prevent epidemics, slaughter, sell-off and dumping dead pigs into the environment.
For localities bordering Dak Lak, Quang Ngai provinces and border areas with Cambodia, the Provincial Chairman requested regular coordination with the Provincial Military Command, the Police, and Market Management forces to promptly detect and handle cases of illegal transportation of animals and animal products through the area.
The Department of Agriculture and Environment (DONRE) directs the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine to guide localities to completely handle outbreaks; directs regional veterinary stations to assign staff to closely monitor the area, grasp the epidemic situation to promptly deploy control measures.
Sick pigs have not been found in the slaughterhouse
On July 21, Mr. Huynh Ngoc Diep - Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Gia Lai province - said that the 3 outbreaks of African swine fever in the province have been controlled and no signs of widespread spread have been recorded.
However, in some localities, there is a situation where people litteredly throw dead pigs into canals, rivers and streams, causing serious environmental pollution. Faced with this situation, the provincial leaders and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have directly worked, directing localities to urgently collect and destroy the dead pigs.
The province has established 4 interdisciplinary animal disease control posts on key traffic routes, including: Binh De posts (National Highway 1, Hoai Nhon Bac ward), Song An posts (National Highway 19, Cuu An commune), Ia Khuol posts and Ia Le posts (all on National Highway 14).
According to Mr. Diep, the whole province has 10 concentrated slaughterhouses. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department have worked and mobilized establishments to sign a commitment not to consume pigs with disease. Through inspection, no cases of transporting or consuming sick pigs have been detected to the slaughterhouse.
After completely controlling the outbreaks, the relevant agencies will conduct a review of affected households to propose the Provincial People's Committee to consider supporting costs for destroyed pigs according to meat weight.
Nearly 500 dead pigs dumped in canals
As Lao Dong has reported, since the end of June, the Van Phong irrigation canal system flowing through Binh An, Binh Hiep, Hoa Hoi communes... has been seriously polluted because the dead pigs were thrown into the canal, giving off a foul smell.
According to statistics, the total number of dead pigs collected, treated and destroyed by Binh Hiep, Binh An and Hoa Hoi communes to date is nearly 500 pigs. Of which, Binh Hiep commune has about 130 cows, Binh An commune has 34 cows and Hoa Hoi commune has about 300 cows.
