QUẢNG NAM — Two animal disease inspection stations were established on Wednesday on the National Highway No 1 section in Núi Thành District of central Quảng Nam Province to control pig transportation from northern provinces and cities.

The move aims to control the spread of African swine fever, which has been reported in 20 provinces and cities so far.

Phạm Bão Hoài, head of the animal disease inspection station in the north of Quảng Nam Province said the number of transported pigs, types of pigs and their hygiene on each vehicle would be checked.

Vehicles without legal documents and those who can’t show the origin of the pigs would be punished. Officers will spray disinfectants on pigs of unknown origin, he said.

The disease was spread from the north and has reached the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế.

The central province of Quảng Nam has 500,000 pigs being raised, mostly on small-scale farms.

The provincial People’s Committee has ordered local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to test pigs raised at big farms, slaughterhouses and on pigs suspected of being infected with the virus.

According to Nguyễn Thành Nam, head of the provincial sub-department of livestock production and veterinary, the unit has taken samples of 21 dead pigs and has not found any signs of African swine fever.

In other central and southern provinces and cities, pig inspections have been carried out to prevent further spread of the fever.

Trần Thị Tài, deputy head of central Đà Nẵng City’s sub-department of livestock production and veterinary, said the unit had stepped up inspections, ordered clean-ups of slaughterhouses and sprayed disinfectant around sewers, pig farms and wastewater treatment facilities.

A representative of the agricultural sector of southern Bình Phước Province said inspections had been tightened at border gates and roads on vehicles from affected countries.

In the southern province of Đồng Nai, one of the biggest pig-raising areas in the country with more than 2.5 pigs, local authorities have set up a steering committee on African swine fever prevention and control.

They have also ordered testing the pigs suspected of the infection and the culling of those found to be infected. — VNS