Unknown disease killing pigs in Nagaland’s Kiphire and Mon districts

Blood samples of death swine have to be collected and brought to Kohima for testing and diagnosis

Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 18 (EMN): Following the outbreak of a non-specific disease in pigs at Pungro and adjoining areas in Kiphire district, the director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services (AH and VS), Dr. Budhi Lama, said on Thursday that blood samples had been sent to find out the disease.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the official said that the exact cause of swine deaths, as reported by the chief veterinary officer (CVO) Kiphire, was ‘still not detected’ as the blood samples had to be collected and brought to Kohima for testing and diagnosis.

He informed said that it would take a few days to diagnose the disease, and that it is not possible to ascertain the illness without clinical tests.

However, he pointed out that other than ‘commonly affected diseases’, the department cannot not diagnose other diseases in the state. He informed that such samples have to be sent to the nearest North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL), situated in Guwahati for diagnosis and confirmation.

Lama said that the field staff from the functionaries at the district level is on the job for collection of samples and other actions to contain the spread of the disease.

He maintained that regular vaccinations were being conducted and it can be treated with medicines which were available in stock if the recent outbreak is a viral disease or symptomatic. He also said that more vaccines had arrived in the state to vaccinate the common diseases.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lama informed that there was another outbreak which was reported from Mon district and that the department officials in the district and field were on the job and action was being taken.

It may be mentioned that the chief veterinary officer of Kiphire, Dr. Wezolo Sami, had written a letter to the director regarding an outbreak of a non-specific disease in pigs in Pungro and its adjoining areas, which he stated had caused a large number of deaths among the porcine species during the last few weeks.

The letter stated that ‘the affected animal shows symptoms of inappetence with rise in body temperature, 5-10 days after farrowing followed by respiratory distress and death’, while adding that the affected animals did not respond to treatment.

Pointing out the seriousness of the disease and the possibility of its spread to other domesticated animals, the official sought intervention to investigate the outbreak and conduct an epidemiological study.