By Mabinty M. Kamara
Nearly two months after reports of mass deaths of Pigs in Freetown, the government is yet to announce the cause of incident. The situation has left animal farmers concerned over the possible effect of it on their businesses.
In September this year, a strange flu hit pig pens across the capital, leading to the deaths of hundreds of the animals. Weeks later, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) said samples had been taken for test and determination of what could possibly be the cause of the mysterious deaths.
Over a month since the government promised to act, the results of the test has not been communicated to the affected farmers.
One of the worst hit communities was Kroo Bay, where over 200 pigs reportedly died. Murray Conteh, Councilor of the ward in which Kroo Bay falls, said the incident had a severe consequence on the livelihoods of farmers in the area and he expressed disappointment over the delay by the authorities to inform them about what caused it.
“That sickness affected most of the pig owners in this community. Over 200 pigs died within a short period. The fact that you don’t see any pig around points to that fact,” Conteh said over the weekend when Politico revisited the community.
“This place used to be full of pigs. We are interested to know what happened and the treatment to administer should such a disease surface again,” he added, pointing at empty pens in the vicinity.
Conteh said the people would want to continue with their businesses as that is what used to be their source of livelihoods.
Osman Fornah, also in Kroo Bay, owned ten pigs before the outbreak. He said he lost all his pigs to the mysterious flu. Fornah said he wasn’t considering pig rearing anytime soon.
“I don’t even know where to start from again, but even if I do, I don’t think I will invest in that (pig rearing) again, considering the kind of setback I have gone through in the hands of that outbreak. By now I would have been expecting some good cash that will solve my problems,” he lamented.
In Kolleh Town, a community within nearby Ascension Town, over 300 deaths were reported of the animals.
Kaprr Koroma, Chairman of Kolleh Town Community, said they were not even certain if the flu had ended.
“I cannot tell if the disease is over, because in this whole community we have only one pig left. So, we are still observing it,” he said.
The government approached the outbreak under its One Health programme, which is an inter-ministerial approach to zoonotic diseases. The Health Ministry and Agriculture Ministry are the two key players in this.
A spokesman for the health ministry told Politico that the Ministry of Agriculture was responsible for all incidences relating to animal health.
On Friday no official was available at the Livestock Department of the Agriculture Ministry to talk to Politico. And a senior official in the department did not responded to neither calls nor a text message.
Pig rearers are not the only ones worried about this situation.
Consumers too are uncertain whether to resume eating pork.
Christiana Kamara stopped buying the meat amidst fears that those of the infected animals were been sold in the market by unscrupulous farmers.
The last time she ate pork she had bought a lot of it cheaply price, only to realize half way of consuming it that there was an epidemic.
“Since then I have stopped buying it,” she said.
With the Christmas season fast approaching, the demand for pork is expected to grow. But the advice of the government back then to stop eating pork is still fresh in many minds.
Copyright © 2019 Politico Online
