African swine fever reported in Kannur and Wayanad districts of Kerala

Barely a week after over 300 pigs were culled in Wayanad district of Kerala to prevent spread of African swine fever detected there, new cases of the disease have been reported from there as well as from Kannur district of the southern state.

One case each of the disease has been reported from Wayanad and Kannur, the respective district officials said.

The District Collector's office in Kannur told PTI that a meeting in connection with the reporting of the disease has been scheduled later in the day by the Collector.

The latest incident of African swine fever in Wayanad has been reported in Nenmeni village of the district on Monday.

The new case has made the Animal Husbandry department sound an alert in the district.

The Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry in Wayanad, Dr Rajesh, told PTI that 193 pigs in and around the Nenmeni farm in Sultan Bathery will have to be culled this week to prevent the disease from spreading.

There are over 20,000 pigs spread in 222 pig farms in Wayanad alone. Samples will be collected from these farms as part of surveillance, he said.

Kerala had in July tightened biosecurity measures following an alert from the Centre that African swine fever had been reported in Bihar and a few northeastern states.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), African swine fever is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of domestic pigs.

It was first detected in Kenya, East Africa, in 1921 as a disease that killed settlers' pigs. Contact with warthogs was proven to be an important factor in transmission of the virus.