Culling carried out at second Penang pig farm due to ASF

BUTTERWORTH: A second pig farm has been sealed off and culling carried out after an African Swine Fever (ASF) case was detected there on Friday (Jan 6).

The farm in Valdor, South Seberang Prai, is the second in the district to have an ASF case.

Veterinary Services Department director Dr Saira Banu Mohamed Rejab said they closed the farm on Saturday (Jan 7) morning for further action.

"After we found a positive ASF case in the morning, we immediately ordered the farm to be sealed and all operations halted.

"In both cases, action taken was the same – which is to close the farm, dispose of the livestock and stop all livestock transport trucks from crossing district or state borders," she said after a meeting at the South Seberang Prai Selatan District and Land Office on Friday (Jan 7).

Dr Saira Banu said although they managed to identify the positive cases in the two farms, the source of infection in the district was still being traced.

She said it was likely to be the lorries used to transport pigs.

"The state Veterinary Services Department has held mandatory briefings for all pig farmers in the state since 2021, including on the risk of ASF outbreaks.

'We have always warned them to strengthen the biosecurity policy to make sure all transport vehicles entering and exiting are washed.

"In addition, we are enforcing the Pig Farming Enactment 2016 so that pig farmers change their farms from open farms to closed livestock farms," she said.

Dr Saira Banu said the first positive ASF case was identified in a pig farm which was operating without a license, while the second case was in a farm operating with a conditional license and was in the process of being converted to a closed livestock farm.

"Based on our census data, there are 124 pig farms in Penang.

"Of that number, there are 42 farms in Valdor, Lima Kongsi (four), Jawi (six), Simpang Ampat (four), Sungai Bakap-Wellesley (six) and Nibong Tebal (one).

"The total number of pigs in the state of Penang is 267,348," she said.

She added that even with just two cases, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow considers Valdor a "disaster area".

"This is because it involves many farms and the livestock population is almost 139,000 in the Valdor area alone," she said.