Aizawl, March 29 : A fresh outbreak of African Swine Fever (AFS) has killed over 510 pigs in Mizoram, officials said on Saturday.

An official from Mizoram's Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AHVD) said that over 510 pigs died due to the ASF during the past two weeks in 13 villages and localities in two Mizoram districts -- Lawngtlai and Mamit.

Two teams of AHVD have culled around 100 pigs and piglets in the two districts so far.

The fresh outbreak was confirmed on March 20 through tests in the Northeast Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati.

According to the officials, earlier this month, the fresh outbreak of ASF hit Lawngtlai district, which shares unfenced international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Pig fatalities were also reported from the Mamit district, which shares an interstate boundary with Tripura and international frontiers with Bangladesh.

The state government is monitoring the situation closely, as efforts are being made to curb the spread of the deadly disease in the unaffected areas.

Last year, Mizoram suffered a loss of Rs 336.49 crore due to the outbreak of ASF, which left 15,000 pigs dead while around 24,200 pigs were culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to AHVD officials, over 15,000 pigs died while over 24,200 pigs were culled till December 31 (2024) after the outbreak of the ASF on February 9 last year.

The outbreak of the contagious disease started in mid-March 2021, and since then, the ASF has caused huge losses to the farmers and government farms.

In 2021, around 33,417 pigs and piglets died, and 12,568 were culled due to infectious disease, while in 2022, at least 12,795 pigs and piglets died and 11,686 were culled, and in 2023, 1,139 pigs and piglets died and 980 were culled.

In 2024, the first ASF case was reported on February 9 in Leithum village in Champhai district, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar.

The northeastern state, which shares unfenced borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, has incurred financial losses of Rs 896.69 crore due to the disease since 2021.

"In view of the death and culling of pigs and piglets due to the ASF outbreak, Mizoram suffered a loss of Rs 334.14 crore in 2021, Rs 210.32 crore in 2022 and Rs 15.77 crore in 2023," an AHVD official told IANS.

The government has provided compensation to several hundred families for the loss of pigs due to the highly communicable disease, she said.

The ASF, which, however, does not affect humans, is a highly infectious disease among pigs and poses a severe threat with a very high mortality rate.

According to experts, the outbreak of ASF may have been caused by pigs or pork brought from neighbouring Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the adjoining states of the northeast.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long unfenced border with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh.

Pork is one of the most common and popular meats consumed by both the tribals and non-tribals in the northeastern region.

With heavy demand for pork in the northeast region, its annual business is worth around Rs 8,000-10,000 crore, with Assam being the largest supplier.

/IANS