KOTA KINABALU – Three Sabah districts have been declared an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak area, bringing the total number of districts with the ASF virus to 10.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said that the latest cases were detected in Papar, Kota Kinabalu, and Tenom.
Papar was only declared an outbreak district today even though the virus was detected in Kg Kogopon and Kg Purak on September 14.
Kitingan said that the ASF virus was to blame for the deaths of 91 backyard pigs in the two villages over a two-week period, resulting in an estimated loss of RM50,000.
“The virus was also detected in pigs in Kota Kinabalu on September 30 and Tenom on October 13,” Jeffrey said, adding that these were isolated cases.
“So far, ASF had only infected backyard pigs and not commercial ones in the four main commercial farms in Papar. There are approximately 9,400 pigs in the commercial pig farms,” Kitingan said in a statement today.
Earlier this year, the state declared an outbreak of ASF, with the ministry classifying the cases by red and yellow zones after no new cases were detected in the last 60 days.
Cases were previously detected in Pitas, Kota Marudu, Beluran, Telupid, Tongod, Kinabatangan, and Sandakan.
“The ministry via the Veterinary Services Department will continue to monitor the ASF situation and take action to ensure the adequacy of pork-based protein sources in Sabah is guaranteed,” Kitingan said, adding that ASF does not normally infect humans. – The Vibes, October 21, 2021
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