E Cape pig farmers concerned over African swine fever outbreak

The small-scale pig farming community in Ugie in the Eastern Cape is concerned about the outbreak of African swine fever .

Residents say large quantity of pigs are dying.

This has resulted in some farmers slaughtering their pigs before they show symptoms of swine fever.

Many small-scale farmers in the rural areas depend on livestock for a living.

They are calling for urgent government intervention to prevent the further spread of swine fever.

Small-scale farmer Xolisa Tshongolo says, “We have recently noticed that our pigs are losing weight and they are not eating.

They just stay away from home, they run away to the bushes to stay there and when you try to bring them back, you find that they are mentally disturbed.

So, we have got that problem here, so our pigs are dying like nothing.

All of them are gone, even the one that has just gave birth with piglets, all of them are gone now.” Meanwhile, government has deployed veterinary officials to the area to assess the situation.

Provincial Agriculture Department Spokesperson Atule Joka says, “The department has dispatched its veterinary officials and animal health technicians to conduct the assessment to try and get to the bottom of the issue.

Samples will be collected and then sent to the laboratory to confirm this particular disease.

At this stage, it is suspected that it is African swine fever due to the fact that it has a high mortality rate and it also spread quickly from one pig to another especially in a confined area.”