(Kajal Singh, Intern Journalist)

Assam: The whole world including India is battling the dreaded coronavirus. Meanwhile, another deadly disease in India has been knocked out by African swine flu. This disease has started to wreak havoc in Assam. According to the Assam government, around 2500 pigs have died due to this. In fact, on Sunday, the Assam government’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora told in a press conference that there have been cases of African swine flu in the state. So far, the disease has spread to 306 villages in seven districts of the state. So far 2500 pigs have died due to this dangerous disease.

He also informed that the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases has confirmed the African Swine Flu (ASF). This disease has knocked for the first time in the country. This infection is so dangerous that the death rate of pigs infected with it is 100 percent. A strategy is being chalked out to save those pigs who are still surviving the infection.

Bora said that even after getting approval from the central government, the Assam government will adopt other avenues to prevent the spread of this deadly infectious disease instead of killing pigs. He told that this disease has nothing to do with Covid-19 i.e. Coronavirus.

How does the flu spread:
Talking about the spread of this virus, he said that the African swine flu is spread through pork, slices, blood, and tissue. Therefore, the Assam government will stop the transport of pigs. We have converted the perimeter of 10 km into a surveillance zone so that pigs do not go anywhere else.

Where did the flu spread:
Bora said that the disease started in April 2019 in a village in Jiang Province, China, which is bordering Arunachal Pradesh. In Assam, the disease came to the end of February this year. And it seems that this disease has reached Assam via Arunachal from China.

Infection cases will be investigated:
Talking about the Assam government’s plan, Bora said that the veterinary department will collect samples and examine them in a radius of one kilometer of the affected area.


During this period, only those pigs will be killed. The neighboring states have also been requested to stop the movement of pigs here.
Deaths happening since last days:
There is also a fact that in the past few days in Assam Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur,
Biswanath, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Jorhat and some districts of Arunachal Pradesh, there have been unusual deaths of pigs. After this, the transportation of pigs from other states has been banned at the same time in Meghalaya.
According to the Assam State Government data, according to the census of 2019, the number of pigs in Assam was 21 lakhs, but now it has increased to about 30 lakhs.

Apart from this, while speaking on the coronavirus cases in Assam, the Minister said that the number of State Corona Infections has increased to 42 out of which 32 have been cured and they have been discharged from the hospital. There are 9 cases active in the state and 1 has died.