Government bans the trading and marketing of pigs in Lusaka with immediate effect.

By
editor
-
36
1109
Agriculture, Cooperatives and Livestock Minister Bob Sichinga
Agriculture, Cooperatives and Livestock Minister Bob Sichinga

Government has with immediate effect banned the trading and marketing of pigs and its products to help in the fight against African swine fever.

And Government has with immediate effect directed all pork processing plants in Lusaka to stop processing pork.

This follows an outbreak of African swine fever in Lusaka Province.

Ministry of agriculture and livestock says it will slaughter all the pigs affected and in-contact farms with African swine fever.

Agriculture and Livestock Bob Sichinga says the Ministry will destroy all products originating from affected farms.

Mr Sichinga says the ministry estimated that 25,000 pigs will slaughtered in order to eradicate the diseases to from Lusaka province.

He observed that if the diseases is not checked, large investigates will be withdrawn from the pig industry which will result in economic and job losses in the country.

Mr Sichinga has appealed to the famers, traders and the general public to cooperate with the ministry of Agriculture and livestock in the fight against African swine fever.

He said government will compensate affected farmers that will coperate with government’s directive.

He said his ministry is undertaking surveillance measures to determine the extent of the geographic spread, number of farms affected and the number of animals affected by the disease.

Mr Sichinga was speaking in Lusaka Monday afternoon during a news briefing.

36 COMMENTS

    • But why do PF like slaughter things? Everyday we are just hearing about killing killings killings…
      – Week they PF went on rampage killing dogs
      – Albinos disappeared in few days
      – then peasant farmer
      – Mailoni brothers
      – their own cadres
      – even soccer fans buying tickets sure
      … now is innocent pigs!!
      PF tamwakwate uluse.

    • I usually drop off my nephew for school at KBS but never heard of Soloboni. N’kayako next time n’katwala umwaiche ku sikulu.

    • When Guy Scot is in government, there is always an outbreak of swine fever! Zambians, have you forgotten why he was fired by Chiluba?

  3. these are the effects of not investing adequately in the veterinary profession. I hope the african swine fever and newcastle disease outbreaks in lusaka will serve as a wake up call. There will be serious loss in income, the role of a veterinarian cannot be understated. Prevention is better than cure

    • Come on don`t just say things for the sake of saying it.You people are too fond of throwing some cheap punches at the government even when you lack knowledge in these things.Swine fever is caused by a virus and it is a virus that you cant come up with a vaccine against because it changes frequently.Every year there is a new strain of the virus(due to mutation).The best way of avoiding the virus spreading to other pigs and other hosts is by destroying the animals in which the virus has been found or suspected.So don`t talk about preparations here my friend.

    • Ya Sichone even ku basungu kwaliba amalwele. Just a few years ago wasn’t there an outbreak of Mad Cow disease in the UK? Did that mean that their vets are inadequate? Like @Saulosi says situations vary with time and the control measures usually involve culling heads.

    • @Saulosi, I just pray your PF will not kill/destroy the HIV positive people. Pigs have a life too. Why don’t you give them a chance by gathering them at one of ZNS farms, and ask prisoners to nurse, let pigs die one by one, maybe some may survive, Sichinga is not pig’s god to decide their life span. Poor slaughtering with pangas and stubbings… What a ceremony you have.
      Jesus didn’t kill them, he only made them mad like some leader I know..

  4. Saulosi, do your home work, african swinen fever is endemic to eastern province it has always been in zambia, ever wondered why there is a ban on movemnt of pig products from the aforementioned region. You say the virus mutates are you sure, look at the documented cases zambia has on ASFV. Now my learned colleague whenever you have an endemic disease, you set up mechanisms to contain that disease to the locale in question. You then put in place measures in place to mitigate the effects of an outbreak and by this i mean the necessary personnel. Its an on going process of surveillance and testing. Lets call a spade a spade, livestock hasn’t been prioritised. We can’t expect miracles if we don’t invest. Lets think objectively and take a leaf from our neighbours who are reaping millions in…

    • So how do you want the government to handle the situation now that there is an outbreak? Since you seem to know more than @Saulosi why don’t you travel to Zambia and help the nation sort out the problem. That way you will not just be an arm chair critique.

    • @Sichone yes i agree with you that this swine fever is endemic in those areas because pigs happens to be the natural reservoir for the virus causing the disease.Viruses at times go through what is called a latency stage(some form of self limiting stage) and then when conditions are okay for them they go into what is called a lytic stage(like what is happening now).I don`t want to go very deep into this, but one thing you have to know is that pigs are susceptible to a wide range of viruses because thy have receptors for a wide range of viruses unlike Birds(Avian) and humans, hence there is a lot of mixing of DNA(genetic shift) in pigs giving rise to new viral strains.It is not easy to prevent this disease bro ,just like it is not easy to prevent flu(Remember the flu pandemic in 2009 ?)

    • I really like this healthy debate. No insults, learned friends bringing out the data they know. This is how it should be. If I were an editor no insult whatsoever would be published. Keep it up guys

  5. Saulosi,
    let us contribute positively to this forum. If the government makes a mistake, lets point out (hammer depending on were you are sitting). Yes Guy Scott was in the MMD government when there was an out break of Swine Fever(including at Guy Scott’s farm). The MMD managed to contain Swine Fever because all affected animals were slaughtered.

    • @Jay Jay I think @Saulosi’s only failing on this matter is the use of his regular phrase “Cheap.” Otherwise, I think he has put forward some valid views.

  6. Mop test and slaughter is standard procedure when it comes to containing a disease of this nature. We have heard that a ban on movemnt and processing of pig and pig products has been instituted. Like i said we knw where the disease is endemic and it has come about because of a lapse somewhere. I propose tht govt increases the manpower in the livestock sector when it comes to combating animal disease. Zambia is vast and really undermanned. When we have personnel in place who constantly monitor for disease we will be in a position to readily combat disease outbreaks. Many animal diseases have a public health concern, its good ASF is not zoonotic but let us not wait for disease to presen itself. We cant be 100 percent certain that a certain disease wont strike but i’d rather fancy my…

    • Ya Sichone take the movement ban as a temporary effort in localizing the outbreak. It is not a permanent feature but being used in combination with testing and slaughtering. Once the situation is considered under control then the movement ban will be lifted.

  7. @ Saulosi my brother, we are only part of the problem in the world. Recently pigs were butchered in a neighboring country. Don’t just sit and criticize other people. Even the decision to slaughter diseased animals is good for our society and the veterinary officers must be appreciated for a job well done. May God deliver us from swine fever

  8. Fipayenifye,the eating of swine’s flesh is thoroughly condemned by our God for our own good but man has become so stubborn with his own appetite,read Isaiah 66v17. A swine is a scavenger!he feeds on filth and God made him so,filthy in filth out,others are crocs,monkeys,rats(imbeba),rabbits,horses,Hyenas,ducks, dogs,the list goes on..

  13. Spare the pigs and send them to Southern Province(Mazabuka). We will not eat them but faque them. We love animals here.

  15. the importance of a vet in this country is only realised whenever there is an outbreak. wake up ba PF. its about time u realised that most countries doing fine economically are those that have priotisd their livestock industry. typical examples are our neigbors namibia and botswana. ifwe ni copper everytime which we don even benefits frm but the investors. i hope this outbreak saves as a lesson pantu things are bad as we speak

Comments are closed.