​The risk of widespread African swine fever continues to occur and quickly spread to localities where no epidemics have broken out in localities for more than 30 days, and there exists a high risk for the epidemic to reach large-scale pig breeding facilities, which might result in massive destruction of pigs in the coming time.

Preventing African swine fever is the same as combating with the enemy

In order to deal with this situation, Prime Minister sent a telegram to ministries, sectors and localities to ask them to focus on directing and carrying out drastic measures to prevent and control this disease.

Accordingly, Prime Minister asked levels of Party Committees and local authorities to mobilize the whole political system to join hands in drastically directing; administering the prevention and control of the epidemic with the motto of “Preventing the epidemic is the same as combating the enemy”, “Prevention is the key task and a basis for people to combat the enemy”; directing local authorities and levels of functional agencies of localities to closely monitor to promptly detect and destroy infected pigs according to the guidance of specialized agencies to minimize the spread of epidemics without causing any environmental pollution. Also, levels of local authorities from provinces to districts, communes, villages, livestock businesses, and households must have their appropriate backup epidemic prevention plans.

Also, Prime Minister requested to promptly detect and strictly handle the cases in which assistance policies to help with the destruction of sick pigs, and the cases in which false declaration of the quantity and weight of sick pigs that are forced to be destroyed happen. It is essential to urgently complete the veterinary system at all levels to ensure the implementation of tasks and actively give advice to local authorities; proactively supervise and promptly detect and deal with sick pigs; control the transport and slaughtering of pigs.

Besides, it is necessary to disseminate propaganda information and offer farmers instructions on how to carry out good hygiene and disinfection measures without using leftovers to feed their pigs. Also, large livestock households are supposed to take more bio-security measures to protect their pigs, especially their pig breeds for re-keeping pigs after the epidemic ends.

The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to direct, guide, supervise, and urge localities to speed up their restructuring of the livestock sector, and diversify livestock animals and at first it is necessary to focus on developing the livestock of cattle, poultry, aquatic products and so on to compensate for the shortage of pork products to better serve people’s lives.

Duy Minh (T. Lien)