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African swine fever sweeps across 32 provinces
The Indonesian government plans to immediately establish a task force to address the widely spread African swine fever (ASF), which has been found across 32 provinces in the country in the past year and killed thousands of pigs.
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The strain of African swine fever spreading in Asia is undeniably nasty, killing virtually every pig it infects by a hemorrhagic illness reminiscent of Ebola in humans. It is not known to sicken people, however. (Bloomberg/File)
T
he government plans to immediately establish a task force to address the widely spread African swine fever (ASF), which has been found in 32 provinces in the country in the past year killing thousands of pigs.
Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the viral swine disease was detected in key pig farming regions, including Bali, North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua, with a recent surge detected in Nabire, Central Papua.
He further stressed that ASF is not a zoonotic disease, meaning it cannot be transmitted from animals to humans. The outbreak, however, has affected the supply of pork, which is usually in high demand during the Christmas and New Year season.
“We will soon address the issue,” Zulkifli was quoted by Antara as saying on Wednesday, following a meeting with related institutions including the Agriculture Ministry and National Quarantine Agency (Barantin).
He added that the ASF task force would be established by the end of this year.
The Jakarta Food Security, Marine and Agriculture office (KPKP) confirmed separately that ASF was different from swine flu that can be transmitted to humans and, in some cases, resulting in deaths.
