JAKARTA (Xinhua): The number of pigs that died in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province rose to 349 on Wednesday (Feb 8), raising concerns about the spread of swine fever in the region, local authorities said.
"On Monday, the number was still 318 counted from December last year. But today we recorded 31 more pigs had suddenly died," the province's Animal Husbandry Service official Melky Angsar told local media.
He said most of the pig deaths were suspected to be caused by the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, but not all of them. Some died because they were just sick.
Since December 2022, the ASF virus has spread to Kupang Regency, Kupang City, Ende Regency, East Flores Regency, Sikka Regency, Southwest Sumba Regency, West Sumba Regency, and North Central Timor Regency.
Angsar said that to prevent the spread of the virus attacking animals, the agency had destroyed 500kg pork from Bau-Bau of Southeast Sulawesi province.
