AFRICAN SWINE FLU
REACHES INDIA
- The Assam government on Sunday said the first instance of African Swine Flu has been detected in the state and it has already killed around 2,500 pigs across 306 villages.
- The department had earlier banned sale and consumption of pork meat in six districts of Assam,some of which shares the border with Arunachal Pradesh.
It
has been said that the diseaseis being spread transboundary from China.
·
The
virus spread throughmpig's meat, saliva, blood,andtissue.So there the transportation
of pigs between districts has been banned.
·
According
to a 2019 census,the pig population in the state of Assam was 21 lakh which has
increased in recent times to around 30 lakh.
Did it really come from China?
· The
disease was detected during the last part of February in China.
- However,it started in April 2019 in China at a village of Xizang province bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
- It is suspected that the disease crossed over to Arunachal Pradesh and then reached Assam.
·
African swine fever(ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs.
·
There are neither vaccinesn or cures.
·
It has serious socio-economic consequences in affected countries.
·
It is caused by a large DNA African swine fever
virus(ASFV) of the Asfarviridae family.
·
ASFV replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells.
·
It is the only virus with a double-stranded
DNA genome known to be transmitted by arthropods.
Will it have direct effect on human helath?
Humans are not susceptible to the disease.
Socio-economic
Importance of Pigs
·
Pigs are found and raised all over the world,and
provide valuable products to humans.
·
Domestic pigs are raised commercially as
livestock; materials that are garnered include their meat(known as pork),leather,and
their bristly hair swhich are used to make brushes.
·
The mortality is close to 100 percent,and since the fever has no cure,the only way to stop it spreading is by culling the animals.
World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
ASF
is a disease listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health(OIE)
Terrestrial Animal Health Code and must be reported to the OIE.
·
The
World Organisation for Animal Health,formerly the Office International
desEpizooties(OIE) is an inter governmental organization coordinating,
supporting and promoting animal disease control.
·
The
main objective of the OIE is to control epizootic diseases and thus to prevent
their spread.The OIE's head quarters are locatedin Paris,France.
How does
ASF spread?
·
African
swine fever virus (ASFV) persistently infectsits natural hosts,warthogs,bushpigs,and
softticks of the genus Ornithodoros,which likely act as a vector,with no
disease signs.
·
The
virus can be spread by ticks,but also by swine eating pork products that
contain the virus.
 |
Biological
vectors such as soft ticks
(sucks
blood of pigs) Direct contact between
pigs or
through infectious feeds
|
Transmission
from contaminated clothes
and shoes
History of
Spread of ASF
·
The
first out break was retrospectively recognized as having occurred in 1907 after
ASF was first described in 1921 in Kenya.
·
The
disease remained restricted to Africa until 1957,when it was reported in
Lisbon,Portugal.
·
Sporadic
out breaks occurred in France,Belgium,and other European countries during the
1980s.
·
In
2018 the virus spread to Asia,affecting more than 10 percent of the total pig
population in several countries,leading to severe economic losses in the pig
sector.
Does
COVID-19 has any relationship with African swine flu?
·
African Swine Fever virus is not the same as
the novel corona virus,COVID-19.
·
African Swine Fever is disease that only
infects pigs,not humans.
·
The novel corona virus,COVID-19, does in fect
humans,and as of May 05,2020,there are over 3.53 million cases of COVID-19 in
the world with more than 248K deaths.This number is still growing.
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