52/94 communes and wards have African swine fever, Da Nang proposes mandatory vaccination

Da Nang proposed to put African swine fever into the list of dangerous infectious diseases in animals, requiring mandatory prevention with vaccines.

Destroying sick pigs in Binh Phu commune, Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province (now Thang Phu commune, Da Nang city) - Photo: TRUONG TRUNG

That was the proposal of Mr. Tran Nam Hung, Vice Chairman of Da Nang City People's Committee, at the working session of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment delegation with the Central provinces on August 7.

According to the report of the People's Committee of Da Nang City, African swine fever has so far broken out and spread rapidly among pigs in 52/94 communes and wards. Authorities have destroyed more than 11,000 pigs with a total weight of nearly 686,000 kg.

Currently, there is only 1 commune where the epidemic has passed 22 days, 1 ward where the epidemic has passed 10 days, and 1 ward where the epidemic has passed 7 days.

At the meeting, Mr. Tran Nam Hung acknowledged that the risk of disease continuing to arise and spread is very high due to the large pig herd and small-scale farming accounting for the majority (about 80%).

In addition, small-scale farming also causes difficulties in disease control. There is a situation where farmers do not pay attention to applying biosecurity measures in farming.

According to Mr. Hung, currently many commune-level localities are confused in implementing epidemic prevention work because they do not have specialized staff in the field of veterinary animal husbandry.

Da Nang City leaders said that locally, African swine fever first occurred in 2019 and has occurred continuously since 2019.

Although the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine has issued a license to circulate the vaccine to vaccinate pigs from 4 weeks of age and older. However, to date, the disease has not been included in the list of dangerous infectious diseases in animals that require mandatory prevention by vaccine.

"Prevention is better than cure, the epidemic almost returns and flares up every 1-2 years, so we propose adding African swine fever to the list of dangerous infectious diseases in animals that must be prevented by mandatory vaccination" - Mr. Hung proposed.

At the meeting, Mr. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment, said that the country currently has about 31 million pigs. Pork accounts for 65% of the value of meat, with output reaching 8.2 million tons in 2024.

More importantly, this is an essential food source, directly affecting the consumer price index (CPI) and the overall growth of the agricultural sector.

The Deputy Minister warned that if localities do not strictly and drastically control the African swine fever outbreak this time, the consequences will be very serious. Because the disease previously caused pork prices to skyrocket to 105,000 VND/kg, and it took 2 years to recover.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/52-94-xa-phuong-co-dich-ta-lon-chau-phi-da-nang-de-xuat-tiem-phong-bat-buoc-20250807174453457.htm