KOTA KINABALU, Feb 24 — The sales of pork has plunged close to 50 per cent in the past few days due to misleading information on the African Swine Fever (ASF) that has gone viral on social media, claimed a pig farm owner.
The owner, who declined to be named, said the public have been spreading incorrect and misleading information on ASF on social media.
“Actually, ASF will not spread from pigs to humans.
“Pigs infected by the disease will die and these pigs will not be sold to the market.”
However, he said consumers were wary about consuming pork in light of the news on ASF, resulting in almost 50 per cent drop in sales.
Under such circumstances, he said pig farm owners have cut down 50 per cent of the production of live pigs to avoid oversupply and financial loss.
In terms of precautions, he said pig farms throughout Sabah have strictly banned visitors from entering their premises.
He said vehicles and employees of the farm were also required to undergo disinfection to curb the spread of ASF.
“Even our clients are not allowed to enter our pig farms. We send the live pigs to the respective slaughterhouses based on the orders we receive instead.”
He said the strict precautionary measures were necessary as there was no cure or ready vaccine to prevent the disease.
He said the ASF was a highly infectious disease that could spread throughout the farm, which could lead to culling of all the pigs in the farm.
“As such, we carry out disinfection regularly as precautionary measure.”
ASF aside, he said the pig farm owners were also faced with drastic increase in the cost of pig feed and logistics.
He hoped that the misleading information on ASF would die down soon so that sales would gradually pick up.
The Sabah Veterinary Services Department has declared an outbreak of ASF in Pitas following the discovery of the virus among pigs in the district.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said following this declaration, the department has been given the authority to take the necessary action to curb the spread of the disease, including the culling of pigs both wild and in farms within a 50 km radius in the affected areas, controlling the movement of pigs and the selling of pork products originating from the affected areas. — Borneo Post Online
