Western region confirms outbreak of African swine fever

There has been an outbreak of African swine fever in the Western Region, the Regional Director of Agriculture has confirmed.

A statement issued and signed by the director, S.Y. Apiiga, on September 5, 2019, said the districts affected were Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and Effia Kwesiminstim Municipality.

"Under the Rearing for Food and Jobs, Western Region has been allocated pigs but because of this outbreak as ASF we wish to appeal for a replacement of sheep and goats to Western Region since it will take a long time to eradicate the disease in the region,” the statement further added.

According to the statement, samples of dead pigs sent to the National Veterinary Laboratory for analysis have confirmed positive.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses.

It is caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, which also infects ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. Although signs of ASF and classical swine fever (CSF) may be similar, the ASF virus is unrelated to the CSF virus.

ASF is a disease listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code and must be reported to the OIE.