Medan (Indonesia) (AFP)
An epidemic of swine fever has killed more than 27,000 pigs in Indonesia and threatens thousands more, it was learned from animal health officials.
Thousands of pigs have died in the province of North Sumatra in the past three months and the rate of death is increasing, according to these authorities.
"Every day, between 1,000 and 2,000 pigs die. This is an important figure," said Agustia, who has only one name like many Indonesians, head of veterinary services in Medan, the capital, on Friday. province.
However, he said the current toll was only a small proportion of the 1.2 million pigs reared in the province, part of this predominantly Muslim country where many Christians live, often with pork on the menu.
Last month, the carcasses of over a thousand swine fever pigs were recovered from rivers in the province where they were abandoned and then buried. Police are looking for those who left the carcasses in the wild.
Preliminary tests have shown that the animals are infected with classical swine fever, but other tests are under way to detect a possible infection with African swine fever. Neither of these two diseases poses a risk to humans, according to experts.
In 2017, an epidemic of swine fever struck the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, killing more than 10,000 pigs and inflicting heavy financial losses on local breeders.
© 2019 AFP