Days after officials confirmed an outbreak of African Swine Flu at a pig farm at Meenachil, the infection scare is spreading to more parts of Kottayam district.
According to District Collector P.K. Jayasree, new cases of virus infection had emerged from two pig farms at Arpookkara and Moolakkulam panchayats. In view of the finding, 181 pigs within one-kilometre radius of the affected farms were culled on Thursday as preventive measure to prevent the spread of the disease. The culling operations were followed by an anti-infection drive at these locations.
The regions within one-kilometre radius of the affected farms were declared as infected areas and the regions within ten kilometre radius of the locations were declared as surveillance areas. The supply of pork from the affected areas was banned for the time being.
She said an inquiry was launched to ascertain whether pigs from the affected farms were transported to other farms in the past two months.
Task forces had been constituted in the affected areas by mobilising members of the Police, Animal Welfare departments and local body secretaries. The Collector also directed animal welfare officers to initiate immediate action upon finding new cases of infection.
