NIBONG TEBAL: Another seven pig farms in Seberang Prai have reported cases of African Swine Fever (ASF), bringing the total number of commercial pig farms affected to 18.
The 18 pig farms — 14 in the Seberang Prai Selatan (SPS) district and two each in the Seberang Prai Tengah (SPT) and Seberang Prai Utara (SPU) districts — have a total of 48,194 pigs.
The 14 farms in SPS have 39,997 pigs, SPT (2,742 pigs) and SPU (5,455 pigs).
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said SPU was the latest district to record ASF cases, particularly in Kampung Selamat.
"The ASF infection has widened further to include the SPU district.
"As of today, 18 farms in all three districts on mainland Penang have reported ASF cases.
"We will continue to monitor the situation on the ground to prevent further spread of the ASF," he told reporters here this evening.
As of today too, only 4,204 pigs from four farms in SPS have been culled and buried.
Culling exercise is being aggressively done and is expected to take weeks to fully complete.
There are 124 pig farms in Penang — 64 in Seberang Prai Utara, 52 in Seberang Prai Selatan, four in Seberang Prai Tengah and four on the island — involving a total of 267,348 pigs.
Chow, however, assured that there was ample supply of pork in the market ahead of the Chinese New Year festivity.
"There are still pig farms here that are free from ASF.
"As such, the pork in the market is safe for consumption," he added.
Chow said several association leaders who met him yesterday, had also raised several issues with regards to the ASF, particularly sampling, greater transparency of the sampling results, compensation and when the affected pig farms could resume operations.
Meanwhile, state Veterinary Services Department (DVS) director Dr Saira Bani Mohamed Rejab said they would hand over the hard copy of the laboratory results from the samples tested to the farm owners for greater transparency.
As for compensation, she said it ranged between RM400 and RM800 each for adult pigs, with certain conditions.
Dr Saira Bani said pig farms owners should only resume their operations once the ASF outbreak situation has settled.
"It will depend on when the last positive case is reported.
"Also, it is best if they allow a three-month period for their affected farms to settle first, failing which, there will be risks," she said.
Last Friday, Penang declared the ASF outbreak in the state as a "disaster" after cases were reported in 11 commercial pig farms in the SPS and SPT districts, involving 25,000 pigs.
The culling is done with carbon dioxide gas and according to the Animal Welfare Code of Practice and Animal Disposal Management guidelines before the carcasses are buried.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, ASF has become a major crisis for the pork industry in recent years and has affected several regions around the world.
It is a highly contagious viral disease for domestic and wild pigs and the mortality rate can reach 100 per cent.
The disease is not a danger to humans, but can have a devastating impact on pig populations and the farming industry.
There is currently no effective vaccine against ASF.