In Mizoram, African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to wreak havoc on piggeries, impacting the whole state and killing over 25,200 pigs and culling over 9,400 swine in just five months, resulting in a monetary loss of over Rs 121 crore. The state department of animal husbandry and veterinary science confirmed this.

On March 21, the first epidemic of ASF, thought to be caused by pigs smuggled from Bangladesh, was detected in Lungsen village, close the Bangladesh border, in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district. The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal later verified that the pig fatalities were caused by ASF in mid-April.

According to statistics provided by the government on Sunday, the ASF epidemic has touched at least 239 villages or local areas across 11 districts. With the deaths of 130 additional pigs on Sunday, the total number of pigs killed has increased to 25,256, according to the report. Furthermore, 9,458 pigs have been killed to prevent the sickness from spreading further, according to the report.