146 Pig Livestock In NTT Died Due To ASF

Head of the Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Division of the NTT Provincial Livestock Service, Melky Angsar, gave a statement in Kupang, Monday. ANTARA/Ho-Maria Petronela

The East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Livestock Service noted that during the period January to early February 2024, the number of pigs that died in the province had reached 146 due to the spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF) or African Babi Flu.

"As of February 7, 2024, there were a total of 146 pigholders belonging to dead residents," said Head of Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health at the NTT Livestock Service, Melky Angsar, in Kupang, as reported by ANTARA, Monday, February 26.

This was conveyed in connection with the development of the spread of the ASF virus in NTT, which first entered NTT through Timor Leste in 2020 starting from Belu Regency which is directly adjacent to Timor Leste.

According to him, this number could increase because currently the spread of the virus is still continuing in NTT. He said, in December to February cases of the ASF virus increased due to the large demand for pork ahead of the holiday as well as the previous year.

He said the ASF usually appears from rainy season to summer or transition season, usually from December to February. Therefore, in the current months, the cleanliness of the pigpen must be considered by its breeders.

"In addition, giving vitamins to maintain immunity to pigs and provide adequate food," he said.

146 cases of pigs died due to ASF were spread across seven regencies/cities in East Nusa Tenggara Province, starting from Kupang City, South Central Timor Regency (TTS), Belu, Central Sumba, Ngada Regency and finally in Sikka Regency.

From a number of these areas, Central Sumba became the area with the most cases of pig death, reaching 45, followed by Ngada Regency with 41 dead pigs, 37 Sikka Regency, 10 Kupang City, six TTS Regency, five Manggarai, and two Belu.

Until now, Melky said that there is no vaccine that can be used to prevent the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, therefore prevention must be carried out from the start.

He also said that in 2023 as a whole there were around 1,050 pigs that died. Of these, the largest cases of pig deaths were in Southwest Sumba with the number of cases reaching 175.