Amid a widespread outbreak of the contagious African swine fever (ASF) in Assam’s Lakhimpur, as many as 904 pigs were electrocuted and repeatedly shot in head at one Ratan Gogoi’s piggery firm at Lamu village on Monday.
As per reports, the ASF outbreak has wreaked havoc in the district for the last couple of days, following which a team of 10 veterinarians in Lakhimpur carried out the slaughtering of the pigs through electric shocks today.
Speaking to the media, one of the veterinarians said, “It is shocking to learn that there has been widespread outbreak of ASF in Assam, of late. Earlier, we never heard about such a deadly disease. Unfortunately, there is no treatment or effective vaccine exists for African swine fever in India. It has proven difficult to control the transmission of the disease. But we are hopeful that very soon Government of India will come up with a solution for this.”
The veterinarian also urged the individuals involved in piggery farming should start enlightening themselves about the contagious viral disease of pigs.
"The disease can also be spread by humans. Because it is so lethal, people must begin to educate themselves on the disease's dos and don'ts. We don't want to kill these innocent pigs, but we have no choice," the veterinarian added.
All the dead pigs were then buried near a paddy field in the aforementioned locality.
Notably, the deadly African swine fever virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever with high fatality rates in domestic pigs, affects farmers who make a living from piggery farming.
Sharing the brutal experience, one of the owners of a pig firm said, "I and my brother started the firm with seven pigs. We adore our pigs, but this is their fate; today, I saw them dying in front of my eyes. We have been working day and night since the beginning to keep our firm neat and clean. However, we were surprised to hear that all of our pigs were sick with contagious ASF."
