Pig farmers in Wesselton lose most of their livestock to African swine fever
The surviving pigs should also be put to death, and farmers are urged to wait two months before restarting their farms because there is currently no treatment or vaccination for AFS
WESSELTON – Phumula farmers are devastated after African swine fever (AFS) swept through their sty and killed most of their pigs recently.
According to research published by World Organisation for Animal Health, AFS is a highly contagious viral disease which affects domestic and wild pigs through direct contact.
Due to affordability of land, farmers house and nurture their pigs in the area where the old waste water treatment plant was located.
The area itself is hazardous to the animals’ health due to heaps of litter and an old sewage pit into which some of the animals have fallen and died.
Although it has been determined that the farming area was not the cause of the deaths, several pigs with AFS symptoms have been seen roaming the area.
The mortality rate in pigs with AFS can reach 100%.
After the pigs that belonged to one of the local farmers had died, the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA) was informed, and samples were taken with the results confirming that AFS was the cause.
Although AFS cannot be transmitted to humans, it has the potential to devastate pig populations and the farming industry.
After 26 of his family’s pigs died, one of the farmers, Moses Msibi (55), was distraught.
He currently has just three pigs left, and they all exhibit AFS symptoms.
Read complete article in Highvelder paper.
