A large number of animals have died due to the epidemic of 'African swine fever' in Panauti town. The infection was confirmed only last Monday in pigs, which was raised in a commercial farm. According to the City Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Branch, six hundred and seven birds have died due to the disease in three farms in the city. The disease has caused damage to Team Vision Agriculture Pvt Ltd and Garigaon Agriculture and Livestock Farm in Ward No. 5 and Shrestha pig Farm in Ward No. 10 of the city.
According to branch chief Leela Prasad Sapkota, it is estimated that farmers have lost more than two million rupees so far due to the disease. The disease, which is considered to be very dangerous, has been seen only in pig, which is raised commercially in the city. Last week, the disease appeared from the samples of pig reared in different places. The city has said that biological security has been adopted for disinfection. "Animals that died of disease have been systematically buried in the ground, our team is adopting disinfection methods to prevent further infection", he said.
According to Sapkota, the head of the branch, the city disaster management committee has started the discussion for the compensation of the local farmers. Preparations are being made for more tests in similar potential areas.
After the infection was confirmed in pig, which was kept in different places of the city, the city has prohibited its transportation. The Department of Animal Services has described the disease as an 'extremely dangerous' epidemic disease with a high mortality rate. According to the department, this disease does not spread from animals to humans. This disease, which was seen in neighboring India, China and Bhutan in 2018, was also seen in Panauti in Kavrepalanchok, about five months after entering Nepal.
In March last year, for the first time, after a high mortality rate was observed in pigs reared in the Kageshwari Manohara area of Kathmandu, African Swine Fever disease was confirmed when samples were collected from there and tested at the Central Animal and Poultry Disease Research Laboratory, the department said. According to the department, this disease was first confirmed in Nepal on May 2. The disease was also found in Lalitpur's Godavari and Bhaktapur's Changunarayan areas, and at that time, about a thousand pigs died in different areas of the valley.
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