One case of African swine fever reported in Kannur district of Kerala

Kannur: After over 300 pigs were culled in the Wayanad district of Kerala around a week back to prevent the spread of African swine fever, which was detected there, another instance of the disease was reported from Kannur on Sunday.

Kannur district officials on Monday told PTI that one case of African swine fever was reported from the district yesterday.

The District Collector’s office informed that a meeting in connection with the reporting of the disease has been scheduled for later in the day by the Collector.

Kerala had July tightened biosecurity measures following an alert from the Centre that African swine fever had been reported in Bihar and a few northeastern states.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), African swine fever is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease in domestic pigs.

It was first detected in Kenya, East Africa, in 1921 as a disease that killed settlers’ pigs. Contact with warthogs was proven to be an important factor in the transmission of the virus.