Several wild boar died due to African Swine Fever outbreak in Mizoram: Official

Several wild boars were found dead recently in a jungle in Mizoram's Serchhip district due to African Swine Fever (ASF), an official said on Monday.

The official said that carcasses of about 20 wild boars were spotted near Thentlang village by locals, who informed the state Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department.

Bone marrow samples of the dead boars were collected, and they tested positive for ASF in a laboratory test confirmed on January 16, she said.

Locals claimed that they began to spot carcasses of wild boar in the Thentlang area from the first week of December last year.

Officials said that wild boar carcasses have been found on some occasions in the state since the outbreak of ASF in March 2021, she said.

In July 2022, carcasses of wild boar were found in a jungle in Champhai district in the eastern part of the state bordering Myanmar, and subsequent laboratory tests revealed that they died of ASF, they said.

Highly decomposed carcasses of wild boars were also spotted within Bungtlang South village area on the bank of De Lui river in south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district near the Myanmar border in September 2024, they said.

Although samples could not be collected due to the high decomposition, the wild boars at Bungtlang South village were suspected to have died of ASF, they said.

A few wild boars were also found dead near Saipum village in Kolasib district bordering Assam in September last year due to the swine disease, they said.

The ASF outbreak was first reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram's Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21, 2021.

Since then, 72,012 pigs have been killed, and 52,979 others culled, affecting over 12,500 families, who suffered a financial loss of Rs 1,011.27 crore, officials said.

A total of 9,711 pigs have died due to ASF and 3,620 others culled to prevent further spread of the disease between March and December last year, they said.

Altogether, 3,867 families have been affected by the outbreak in the same year, and the financial loss was estimated at Rs 114.64 crore, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)