By Kemo Cham
The Sierra Leone government has said it suspected the African Swine Fever (ASF) to be behind the death of hundreds of pigs in the country, in an ongoing outbreak that has raised public health fears.
Officials of the Ministries of Health and Agriculture said on Tuesday that a total of 1, 042 animals have died, out of about 1, 080 affected animals, as of October 16. All the cases were reported in four communities - Kroo Bay, Moa Wharf, Kanikay and Eastern Bome - all slum communities.
Dr Amadu Tejan Jalloh, Director of Livestock and Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, said they first received alert on October 14 about the cluster of deaths of the animals in Moa Wharf. He noted that through a joint cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a surveillance team was deployed on the ground to ascertain the situation.
Dr Jalloh however warned that due to lack of expertise and man power to cover the capital city, they couldn’t say for certain the extent of the situation.
ASF is a viral disease that only affects animals, predominantly pigs. It is highly contagious and can lead to serious economic losses.
The virus is transmitted via direct contact with infected animals, ingestion of contaminated substances like food, water and garbage, or through biological vectors like ticks.
It is however not clear what exactly is the cause of the death of the pigs in Sierra Leone, as officials said they couldn’t confirm it due to lack of laboratory reagent.
“But all the evidences we have points to African Swine Fever,” said Dr Mohamed Vandi, Director of Health Security, Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), explaining that the affected animals displayed symptoms common with ASF infections, like reddening of the skin, ears and snout.
Dr Vandi said efforts are underway to procure the reagents to test for confirmation. But he noted that even if the result comes out positive, the samples will still need to be shipped abroad for final confirmation.
One live pig sample and one dead sample have been taken to Teko Veterinary Laboratory for preservation, he added.
The ASF virus causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates. In some cases the infected animals can die as quickly as a week after infection.
Presently there is an ongoing outbreak of the virus in Asia, notably China, which is the world's largest pig producer. There were reports of cases in China’s neighbouring countries, including North Korea and Vietnam earlier in the year.
In China, as a result of the epidemic that began in August, the pig population there is reported to have fallen 41 per cent.
There is no vaccine for ASF and there is also no treatment once the animal is infected. This means that all infected animals are slaughtered and properly disposed of.
Sierra Leonean officials say they have no idea about the pig population in the country, where the animals are mostly reared in free range system, in slum communities, which, according to Dr Vandi, makes it difficult to contain them.
Poor sanitary condition in these communities where pigs are reared are also seen as major contributing factor to the situation.
Dr Jalloh said their surveillance officials found that improper disposal of the dead pigs have help prolonged the epidemic. He said when the owners killed the infected pigs, they remove the intestine and other internal organs which the unaffected pigs feed on, only to get infected, themselves.
The outbreak which began about three weeks before the government responded to it, has raised concerns over public health, amidst fears that the meat is already in the market.
Officials said because ASF is non-zoonotic, there is therefore no chance of infection of humans. But they warned that contaminated meat might pose other health risks to the population, and they called for caution in the consumption of pig meat.
“The Ministry of Health and Sanitation wants to reiterate to the public that ASF is not a threat to human health. However, the public is hearby warned of the public health dangers of eating sick and dead animals,” the Ministry warned in a press statement.
Farmers and producers of pig meat (pork) are also being urged to report any sudden illness and deaths of pigs through the emergency toll free line 117.
© 2019 Politico Online
