The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (AH&V) Department has said that the African Swine Fever (ASF) is not a threat to humans.
“African Swine Fever is not a zoonotic disease and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans and not a threat to human life,” Secretary of the AH&V Department Manjunatha C in a rejoinder statement today said.
The statement was issued after a local English newspaper claimed that a pig owner in Tiehsaw village of West Khasi Hills had died of African Swine Fever (ASF).
“The news report is false and unverified,” Manjunatha said, though 22 pigs belonging to one person did die.
Not only is the said person still alive, Manjunatha C made clear that ASF, though deadly to swine, cannot be passed on from pigs to humans.
Tiehsaw has been declared as the epicentre of an ASF outbreak and containment measures have been put in place to prevent the further spread of the disease.
