African swine fever outbreak declared at Kousseri

Infection which could come from the piggeries in N'Djamena has already killed 70 animals. While the hog farmers in the Far North are recovering gradually from the sad episode of 2010 where their beasts had been decimated, the outbreak of African swine fever re surfaces in the region.

According to a correspondence of the departmental delegate of livestock, fisheries and animal Industries of the Logone and Chari, an outbreak of swine fever" certainly African" was declared August 31, 2014 at the Laka district in Kousseri. According to Dr. Amadou Lahamdi, this infection would come from piggeries of a neighborhood in N'Djamena, located on the other side of the Logone river.

To date, four pigsties are infected for 70 fatalities, all categories combined (sow, boar castrated, piglet). The sous-prefet of Kousseri then officially declared the outbreak in the city. The animals decimated were buried and the prohibition of the slaughtering of pigs was taken as a precautionary measure.

The hygiene and sanitation service in Kousseri has been mandated to ensure the prohibition of the ravings of pigs. These measures are designed according to the departmental delegate of Logone and Chari, to protect the two production ponds in Madagascar and the prison camp.

The veterinary services are striving to equip themselves with the material means to cope with the situation. African swine fever is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease, but cannot be transmitted to humans. There is no vaccine or medication against the virus and in the event of contamination, the only solution is to kill the hogs.

The transmission of the infection is by the direct contact between the sick animals or indirectly by the ingestion of garbage. The outbreak of African swine fever has occurred for the first time in Cameroon in 1982 killing more than 80% of the population of pigs which was at that time of approximately 1.6 million.

The region of the Extreme North constitutes a great basin of hog production. It represents more than 25% of the pig population of the country. The hog industry remains one of the largest providers of the incomes of families in this region.

With a mortality rate of almost 100% when it is seized of the herds, the economic impact of this disease for livestock farmers and the whole of the pig farming sector is often dramatic. In 2010, the disease had decimated the bulk of animals in the region, causing significant deadweight losses to the farmers. The strengthening of bio-security measures in the farms is therefore vital.