KURNOOL: With the spread of classical swine fever virus, over 9,000 pigs have died in a recent couple of months due to contraction of the virus, in the Kurnool city limits. Fear and concern loom over the Kurnool civilian as the dead bodies of the pigs lie haywire in the residential areas, where the swines died minutes after coming in contact with the virus.
“With a population of about 25,000 pigs in Kurnool city, residents are having tough time to live freely due to the foul smell and constant fear of contracting the virus. But there is no need to panic as the swine fever virus does not impact human beings,” a Senior Veterinary Doctor and Animal Husbandry Department assistant director of Dhone division Dr R Nagaraju said.
As per World Organization for Animal Health, Dr Nagaraju said swines are the only species susceptible to the swine flu virus. “The disease has acute and chronic forms, and can range from severe with high mortality rate to mild or even unapparent. In the acute form of the disease, there is fever, huddling of sick animals, loss of appetite, dullness, weakness, conjunctivitis and constipation followed by diarrhoea and an unsteady gait,” stated the veterinary doctor.
There is only one possible way to break the outspread of the disease—segregation of pigs—into healthy and infected ones. We need to then vaccinate the healthy pigs to keep them immune, as there will be no use of vaccinating the infected pigs, he added.
Speaking with TNIE, Kurnool Municipal Corporation health officer Dr Moksheswara Reddy said at least 50 pigs have been found dead in different parts of the city limits in a day. “The KMC along with animal husbandry department officials have been conducting vaccination drives to control the situation. They are also conducting awareness programs with swine rearers, to create awareness about caring of their pigs, he added.Not to be mentioned, more than 100 familiesin Kurnool city are dependent on rearing of pigs.