With African Swine Fever (ASF) confirmed in the Mansa district of the State, as many as five districts in Punjab has seen confirmed cases of the disease.
Punjab Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday said that ASF has been found in the swine samples from village Talwandi Aklia of district Mansa and this area has been notified as 'infected zones' for the prevention of the ASF. He said that after confirmation from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - National High Security Animal Disease Institute, Bhopal, the Animal Husbandry department has strictly enforced restrictions and declared 0 to 1 kilometer area of the epicenter as 'infected zone' and 1 to 10 KM area as 'surveillance zone' to prevent the disease in the district.
He said to prevent the disease in the State swine culling was being done and so far as many as 735 swine have been culled in four ASF affected districts, which include - Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar and Fazilka. A total 471 swine in Patiala, 68 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 176 in SBS Nagar and 20 swine have been culled in district Fazilka, he said.
“The Punjab government has announced compensation policy for culling of swine and compensation will be given only for the culling done by the department within the infected zone of one km radius of the epicenter notified by the department,” he said.
