African swine flu reported in Kerala hamlet; pigs ordered to be culled

An outbreak of African swine flu has been reported in Kanichar village in this north Kerala district, following which the district Collector ordered culling of pigs in two farms there.

The district animal husbandry official confirmed the flu at a private farm located at Malayampadi on Friday.

Subsequently, the district authorities ordered culling of the pigs there and in another nearby farm located in a 10km radius, and bury the carcasses as per protocols.

An area of one km around the pig farm, where the infection had been detected, was declared as an infected area and a radius of 10km as a disease surveillance zone, official sources said.

Distribution and sale of pork in the area and its transportation to other places have been banned for three months, they said.

The Collector, the chairman of the district disaster management authority, also asked the local authorities to submit an urgent report to confirm whether the pigs from the affected farm were transported to other farms in the last two months.

If any fresh case of the disease was reported anywhere in the village panchayat, the disaster management authority should be informed about it at the earliest, an order in this regard said.

The veterinary officer in the hamlet was directed to take urgent measures to check the further spread of the disease, it added.