A miraculous feat of keeping livestock safe in Luong Minh.

For two consecutive years, the mountainous commune of Luong Minh has remained virtually free from African swine fever and other livestock diseases, a feat that can be considered a miracle.

Luong Minh commune ( Nghe An province) has a total natural land area of ​​227.96 km2. The distance from the commune center to the furthest village is approximately 25km. Two resettlement villages in the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir area still lack road access to the center; travel to these villages is by waterway.

Given the context of small-scale, household-based livestock farming accounting for 100% of the economy, Luong Minh commune's successful response to African swine fever is nothing short of a miracle. Photo: Viet Khanh.

Due to unfavorable terrain conditions, Luong Minh is frequently affected by natural disasters and floods, increasing the risk of outbreaks and spread of livestock and veterinary diseases, especially since small-scale farming accounts for 100% of the economy.

However, just like in 2024, various diseases have had almost no impact on Luong Minh's livestock and poultry, especially African swine fever. Given this context, this is truly a miracle in disease prevention and control efforts.

Mr. Vu Thanh Ton, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune, informed: “Currently, Luong Minh has a total herd of 920 buffaloes, over 1,000 cows, 450 goats, about 400 pigs, and about 1,400 poultry. The people mainly practice free-range grazing, with rather rudimentary shelters. From July 2025 to the present, no disease outbreaks have occurred in the area.”

Besides land administration, construction, and environment, Mr. Nguyen Van La (far left) also oversees the monitoring and management of livestock diseases and veterinary work. Photo: Viet Khanh.

Currently, the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune is actively accelerating and completing the steps to establish the Economic Department soon. The current staff consists of only 3 people after being supplemented with 1 additional staff member from the District Agricultural Service Center.

Due to a severe shortage of personnel, people like Mr. Nguyen Van La, a specialist in land administration, agriculture , construction, and environment at the Economic Department of Luong Minh commune, have to shoulder an enormous workload. Just the management and supervision of livestock diseases and veterinary care alone is exhausting.

Mr. Nguyen Van La honestly shared: “We are assigned to oversee many areas, from environment, land, agriculture, construction, and fisheries. The commune lacks specialized staff in livestock and veterinary medicine, so after receiving 1,600 doses of vaccine, we had to hire local people to cooperate with the specialists to speed up the vaccination process for livestock. To date, we have completed vaccination in 6 out of 10 villages with about 900 doses of vaccine, which is a great effort.”

The local people's habit of letting their buffalo and cattle roam freely inadvertently leads to many risks of livestock diseases. Photo: Viet Khanh.

With so much work, so few people, and a multitude of other obstacles, it's truly impossible to manage without meticulous planning and a well-structured strategy. In Luong Minh, the villagers still raise livestock in specific areas and along streams to take advantage of the vast grasslands; this habit of letting livestock roam freely is a real barrier to vaccinating their animals.

“We prioritize going to the farms on weekends, basically notifying the farmers a week in advance so they can proactively herd their buffaloes and cows to the collection point. Unfortunately, the roads are inconvenient, and after natural disasters, they've deteriorated significantly, sometimes taking a whole day to get there. Waiting too long makes the animals weak and hungry, and fearing they won't survive, the farmers have to release them into the forest to forage, which creates even more problems. For the past few months, there's basically no concept of Saturday or Sunday; whenever we have free time, we push each other to go to work,” shared Mr. Nguyen Van La.

Mr. Nguyen Van La (in black shirt), a specialist in land administration, agriculture, construction, and environment in Luong Minh commune, directly inspects livestock farming models in the area. Photo: Viet Khanh.

Regarding pig farming, it's no coincidence that Luong Minh commune has been "immune" to African swine fever for two consecutive years, even though neighboring communes like Yen Na, Tuong Duong, and Chieu Luu have recorded alarming levels of the disease.

As is customary, upon receiving information about outbreaks from neighboring localities, the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune will hold a meeting, establish a "Mobile Team," and assign specialized departments to inspect and monitor the situation 24/7.

Simultaneously, establish a response plan, spread lime for disinfection, and widely disseminate information through various media channels to enable people to proactively respond. In case of an incident, prompt action will be taken to prevent it from spreading widely.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/ky-tich-giu-an-toan-dan-vat-nuoi-o-luong-minh-d789261.html