The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) on Wednesday announced the outbreak of African Swine Fever in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Central Regions that had resulted in the death of several pigs.
A statement issued in Accra and signed by Mr Abeiku Owusu, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, said the affected areas were the Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Atwima, Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma, Afigya Sekyere and Ahafo Ano South Districts in Ashanti Region.
The rest are Asunafo and Atebubu Districts in the Brong-Ahafo Region and Assin District in the Central Region.
The statement said as part of measures to control the outbreak and curtail the spread of the disease to other parts of the country, movement of pork or pig products within, into and out of the affected districts had been banned with immediate effect.
It said slaughtering of pigs and movement of pork or pig products within, into and out of all the affected districts had also been banned. The Ministry, therefore, appealed to all pig farmers, livestock traders, butchers, meat shop owners, meat processors and the public to co-operate with the Ministry in its efforts to control the disease. The statement said all security agencies; Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the public were urgently requested to assist the Ministry to enforce these laws.
It called on all pig farmers in the country to report immediately the presence of any strange disease among their pigs to the nearest office of MOFA in their locality.
The disease, which is known to affect only pigs, is highly contagious and is caused by a virus that produces syndromes from acute to chronic. It is characterized by a high fever haemorrhages and cyanosis in the skin, loss of appetite and a high mortality rate and there is no vaccine against the disease.
The disease is mainly through the movement of infected animals that show signs of the disease and the feeding of infected material to pigs.
