ASF virus reaches Indonesian island Bali
Balinese authorities have confirmed the existence of African swine fever in the livestock, following the death of 1,000 pigs in the last couple of months. Despite the outbreak, authorities claim they have successfully contained the spread of the disease, as there have been no more pigs dying in the last few days, informs the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Bali is a resort island visited by tourists from all over the world but still has a pig population of around 800,000 head. "We suspect that those pigs were infected by ASF because many farmers gave them spoiled leftovers and raw food material from hotels without cooking it first. We are working to raise farmers’ awareness of the disease. Hopefully, they can ramp up biosecurity by keeping pig cages clean. This way, they won’t suffer worse loss," explained Bali agriculture and food security agency head Ida Bagus Wisnuardhana, adding that the agency had distributed free disinfectant to farmers.
As African swine fever poses no danger for humans, authorities in Bali hope that tourism will not be affected by the outbreak.
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