Do not underestimate African swine fever.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is developing in a complex manner in several localities across the country, especially in areas with large pig populations, negatively impacting the economic efficiency of farmers, the environment, and the food supply.

Vaccination is one of the effective measures to prevent African swine fever.

In Thanh Hoa, although the outbreak has been declared over, there are still many potential risks of resurgence. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Environment advises localities and livestock farmers to be proactive in preventing disease outbreaks.

Thanh Hoa province has a large pig population, approximately 1.3 million. While some areas have concentrated pig farming zones or large-scale farms, small-scale farming still accounts for a high proportion, often failing to meet biosecurity standards; and the management of pig repopulation in many places is not strictly enforced. Although outbreaks have occurred on a large scale, they have been controlled for a long time, leading to complacency and negligence among some households. Currently, high temperatures create favorable conditions for the outbreak of many diseases, and with no effective treatments available, the risk of disease re-infection, recurrence, and damage in the province is very high. Given this reality, disease prevention and control efforts are becoming more demanding, requiring the livestock industry, localities, and farmers to avoid complacency and negligence; they must seriously implement disease prevention and control measures for pig herds.

In Xuan Binh commune, one of the localities affected by African Swine Fever (ASF) in 2025, although the disease was quickly contained and controlled, limiting losses for livestock farmers, the commune is still focusing on seriously implementing disease prevention and control measures. In the spirit of not being complacent, the commune requires villages to strengthen information and propaganda about the dangerous nature of ASF; the risk of disease recurrence and spread; and disease prevention and control measures. In addition, it guides livestock farmers to strictly apply biosecurity measures; sprays chemicals and spreads lime powder to disinfect and sterilize livestock areas; strengthens control over the trading, transportation, and slaughtering of livestock; requires establishments to sign commitments not to slaughter pigs of unknown origin, without quarantine certificates and slaughter control certificates from veterinary agencies; and ensures hygiene to prevent the spread of disease.

Ms. Vu Thi Huong, a pig farmer in Xuan Binh commune, said: “I regularly update myself on the African Swine Fever (ASF) situation through the media and proactively implement disease prevention measures such as periodically cleaning the barns, spraying disinfectants, preventing strangers from entering the breeding area, raising pigs according to biosecurity principles, focusing on supplementing vitamins in the feed to increase the pigs' resistance, and ensuring they receive all necessary vaccinations.”

To control the disease promptly, the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Medicine has established working groups to inspect and supervise localities in implementing African Swine Fever (ASF) prevention and control measures; strengthened the organization of sample collection for surveillance to promptly detect and warn of disease risks in the province and propose effective disease prevention and control solutions. In addition, it maintains the operation of rapid response teams to promptly direct and guide the handling of outbreaks as soon as they appear, preventing widespread transmission; and strictly controls the transportation and trading of pigs and pig products into the area to promptly detect and severely punish violations in the trading and transportation of pigs that do not comply with regulations.

Local authorities are proactively implementing disease surveillance to promptly detect and decisively handle newly emerging African Swine Fever (ASF), absolutely preventing the disease from spreading widely; organizing pig farmers to sign commitments not to sell or dispose of pig carcasses in the environment; and strictly punishing cases of failure to report, delayed reporting, or concealment of disease outbreaks. In addition, they are tightening management, conducting reviews and compiling statistics on small-scale, unregulated slaughterhouses for management, inspection, and handling according to regulations; strictly managing the origin of animals and animal products traded in markets, businesses, slaughterhouses, and processing facilities. At the same time, they are reminding people to strengthen the application of hygiene and disinfection measures using lime powder and chemicals in high-risk areas around pig pens; promoting biosecurity in livestock farming; and vaccinating pigs against dangerous infectious diseases, ensuring a vaccination rate of over 80% of the total herd. On the other hand, it is important to have all necessary equipment, supplies, tools, and disinfectants readily available to respond in case of an outbreak...

Text and photos: Le Ngoc

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/khong-chu-quan-voi-benh-dich-ta-lon-chau-phi-289422.htm