African Swine Fever

• 03 Jul 2020

• Assam government is battlingthe contagious African Swine Fever (AFS), which has so far killed thousands of pigs in the state. It has also spread in Arunachal Pradesh.
• This is the first time the disease has spread in India.
• African swine feveris fatal for domestic pigs, with almost 100 per cent mortality rate. The disease spreads from animal to animal. There has not been an instance of humans contracting the disease.
• ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute haemorrhagic fever.
• It is differentiated from Classical Swine Fever (CSF), whose signs may be similar to ASF, but is caused by a different virus for which a vaccine exists.
• While ASF is lethal, it is less infectious than other animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease. But as of now, there is no approved vaccine, which is also a reason why animals are culled to prevent the spread of infection.