Nagaland: NLDB launches door-to-door vaccination drive to tackle swine fever

May 24, 2024 28 Views No Comment

• 254 pigs vaccinated for CSF in Kohima in two days
• Sufficient vaccine to cover whole district, says official

Morung Express News
Kohima | May 24

A total of 254 home-reared pigs have so far received Classical Swine Fever (CSF) vaccination during the last two days in Kohima.

Initiated by the Nagaland Livestock Development Board (NLDB), Diary Farm, Lerie, the door-to-door free vaccination drive by a team of Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) is being undertaken in a bid to prevent CSF outbreaks in the state
The drive began on Wednesday at New Reserve Colony under Ward 16.

The NLDB Managing Director, Dr Khriekuolie Linyü, informed The Morung Express that the drive started only on Wednesday after obtaining the vaccines and would cover other colonies in the ward and move down to the town area as part of an ongoing process.

It will cover both urban and rural areas and even other districts, he said.

“With the workforce attached to NLDB, we want to help the district Veterinary authority,” he said, adding that the drive is being initiated in a bid to save susceptible animals before any outbreak.

“Usually, our people rear one or two pigs at home, so in order to safeguard the economy, we are organizing the vaccination drive,” Dr Linyü said.

When inquired about the vaccine availability, he said that there was “sufficient stock of the vaccine as of now to cover the Kohima district” while supplementing that its role is to extend help to the veterinary department.

However, one constraint, he added, was the shortage of workforce. For the drive, there is only MVU comprising of 2 doctors, field workers, and a driver.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), CSF, also known as hog cholera, is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild swine.

The most common method of transmission is through direct contact between healthy swine and those infected with the CSF virus.

The disease has acute and chronic forms. In the acute form of the disease, in all age groups, there is fever, huddling of sick animals, loss of appetite, dullness, weakness, conjunctivitis, constipation followed by diarrhea, and an unsteady gait.

The authorities informed that all healthy pigs of 3 months of age and above are being vaccinated.