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Suspected African swine fever hits Luangwa
Luangwa, October 13, 2014, ZANIS . . Suspected swine fever has broken out in
Luangwa district killing more than 20 pigs.
ZANIS reports that the disease has reportedly hit some villages in chief
Mphuka’s area in Luangwa district killing more than 20 pigs in
the last four days.
Luangwa District Commissioner Eunie Mumba and Veterinary Officer
Joseph Mwanza confirmed over the weekend that a suspected
outbreak of African swine fever has hit some villages in chief
Mphuka’s area.
Mr. Mwanza said the Department of Veterinary was suspecting that it
could be African swine fever because of the symptoms that the pigs
were showing before dying.
He said the symptoms include heavy breathing and bleeding from the noise and mouth.
And District Commissioner Eunie Mumba confirmed receiving reports of pigs dying in Soweto,
Indeco and Chidada villages in Chief Mphuka’s area.
Mr. Mumba warned pig owners whose animals start showing symptoms of the swine fever to report
to the district veterinary office for action.
He also appealed to the Lusaka province veterinary officer to quickly
send staff to the area to assess the situation before it spreads.
The District Commissioner said losing more than twenty pigs in four
days was too much and feared that the animals will continue to die if nothing
was done to correct the situation.
Mr. Mumba further called on the department of veterinary in the
district to embark on sensitizing the community not to eat the pork of
the infected pigs and also to stop the movements of pigs from the
affected areas to other areas in and outside the district.
He added that the most affected areas were Soweto, Indeco and Chidada
villages which are very close to Mozambique and Zimbabwe and urged the
department of veterinary to be vigilant and ensure that no pigs enter
from the neighboring countries.
