A new pig virus creates panic in Assam, ban on pork

At a time when people of all strata are rattled by the new Coronavirus pandemic, a new pig virus has currently created panic in at least six districts of Assam. The highly infectious virus, which is yet to be identified, has, reportedly, killed around two thousand pigs that compelled the State Government to impose ban on consumption of pork. As per the government data 1,964 pigs died from the virus infection in Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Biswanath districts. However, Assam Agriculture and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora said that the new pig virus cannot transmit to human body. It only rapidly transmits from one pig to another, the Minister said in his twitter account. “ This is a season for swine flu in Assam and we have vaccinated the animals but while many pigs are healthy, 1964 pigs have died in six in Sivsagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Biswanath. We have processed the samples of the dead pigs but we do have not been able to identify the exact reasons of this unnatural deaths. We believe the cause is an exotic viral disease and we have sent the samples to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal for confirmation,” Bora added.

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