MIRI – Hunting of wild boars is still prohibited despite the African Swine Flu having been contained in Sarawak.
The Sarawak Agriculture Modernisation and Regional Development Ministry said the ban on hunting of pigs in the forests is still in effect until further notice.
Minister Datuk Seri Stephen Rundi Utom today said the swine flu problem has been brought under control despite four cases found in Betong and Sibu districts at the end of last month.
“Overall, the ministry and the Veterinary Department had managed to bring the swine flu under control.
“The commercial pig farms are operating and there is enough pork for the market.
“However, hunting of wild boars is still prohibited,” he said in a statement today.
In February, the ministry had issued a directive for mass culling of these animals in the infected pig farms in Sibu, Betong, Miri, Kuching and other areas.
The swine flu woes started in Sibu in early February after it was confirmed that there was an outbreak in three pig farms in Sibu.
“The mass culling and depopulation of the pigs and animals in the farms are being done.
“This is to prevent the disease from spreading to other parts of Sarawak,” he said in a statement on February 18.
Rundi said culling is the only way to stop the spread of the swine flu.
“There is no vaccine against the swine flu. Every infected farm must be sealed off, and all the infected animals culled.
“The disease can cause huge economic losses if not stopped from spreading,” he said.
Rundi said the Veterinary Department has been told to step up checks in all pig farms statewide.
Sibu had over the past two years been ravaged by the Covid-19 crisis.
The swine flu there is believed to have started when pigs began dying suddenly in farms owned by private entrepreneurs.
The Vibes had reported in March that the bearded pigs in Sabah were under threat as their number dwindled significantly as the swine flu decimated the pig population in Sabah and Sarawak since December 2020.
Environmental group 1Stopborneo Wildlife founder Shavez Cheema had said that the team’s camera traps set around Sabah east coast last year only captured footage of a single bearded pig in April. – The Vibes, May 6, 2022
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