Focus on implementing measures to prevent and control epidemics in livestock

Since the beginning of the year, livestock diseases in the province have been well controlled, with no outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases. However, with the epidemic situation tending to increase nationwide, the risk of an epidemic can still occur if timely prevention and control are not taken care of.

People of Vinh Long commune (Vinh Loc) seriously carry out vaccination for livestock.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , the animal disease situation tends to increase, spreading widely in many localities across the country, especially African swine fever (ASF) with the number of outbreaks increasing by over 50% compared to 2023 and rabies with the number of deaths increasing by 42% compared to the same period in 2023. Notably, in the provinces bordering Thanh Hoa such as Nghe An, Hoa Binh, Son La... the epidemic is very complicated.

Currently, with the actual situation of livestock farming in Thanh Hoa such as: small scale, not ensuring biosafety, disease safety still accounts for a high proportion; the work of controlling the transportation and trading of meat and products from livestock and poultry still has many difficulties; livestock farmers are subjective in disease prevention and control; the results of vaccination for livestock and poultry are not uniform; people increase and restore their herds quickly in the last months of the year... requiring the agricultural sector and localities not to be subjective, negligent, and to strengthen the implementation of disease prevention and control measures.

Sharing experiences in disease prevention and control, at the conference "Implementing Directive 11 of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman and ASF vaccination in Thanh Hoa province", Mr. Le Phu Quoc, Vice Chairman of Trieu Son District People's Committee, said: In the face of the actual situation of ASF, Trieu Son district focuses on implementing disease surveillance to promptly detect and completely handle outbreaks when they first arise. In addition, instruct pig farmers to strictly implement biosafety measures, clean livestock barns, disinfect with lime powder, chemicals... especially for large farms that need to strictly control workers entering and leaving the farming area... At the same time, arrange reserve funds to fully prepare means, materials... to ensure that they fully meet the needs of timely response to contain and extinguish outbreaks as soon as they occur in a small area; strengthen veterinary professional forces at all levels to meet the requirements of disease prevention and control in the area. The district has also conducted a review of the entire herd to ensure 100% vaccination coverage... In the first phase of vaccination for livestock and poultry in 2024, rabies vaccine for dogs and cats, Trieu Son is also one of the localities that completed the plan on schedule and had a fairly high vaccination rate.

In addition to the solutions of the functional sector, localities and livestock farmers in the province have also proactively implemented solutions to protect livestock. At the poultry farm of Mr. Nguyen Chi Cuong, Dong Phu commune (Dong Son), the measure that has been maintained for many years is the use of biological bedding, because according to him, environmental protection in livestock farming is one of the important solutions to limit the spread of disease. According to Mr. Cuong: "The effectiveness of this method is that the decomposition of waste makes the bad smell and toxic gases in the barn almost disappear, minimizing pollution of the livestock environment". In addition, Mr. Cuong always strictly implements the measures that have been propagated by the District Agricultural Service Center such as cleaning the barn, supplementing vitamins for poultry, etc.

In the last months of the year, the risk of disease outbreaks and spread in the province is very high, especially ASF. Therefore, the agricultural sector requires localities to strictly implement regulations on disease prevention and control; organize the second vaccination of livestock and poultry in 2024. For ASF, localities need to focus on assigning forces to deploy disease surveillance; fully prepare means, disinfectants, lime powder, vaccines... to respond promptly, extinguish outbreaks as soon as they occur in a small area. In addition, promote biosafety livestock farming, build disease-free livestock facilities and areas; promote breeding and supply of quality pig breeds; review and specifically and accurately count the total number of pigs vaccinated to develop plans, prioritize funding for vaccine purchases and organize synchronous vaccination. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine will strengthen the organization of monitoring samples to promptly detect and warn of disease risks in the province; establish rapid response teams to direct and guide the handling of outbreaks as soon as they appear, preventing them from spreading widely. On the other hand, strictly control the transportation and trading of pigs and pig products into the area, and strictly handle violations in the trading and transportation of pigs that do not comply with regulations.

Article and photos: Le Ngoc

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tap-trung-thuc-hien-cac-bien-phap-phong-chong-dich-benh-tren-dan-vat-nuoi-221831.htm