"One of the forms of efforts to prevent the transmission of the ASF virus is distributing free disinfectant liquid to pig farmers in NTT," Head of the Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Division at the Animal Husbandry Office of NTT, Melky Angsar, remarked here on Tuesday.
Angsar made the statement after an event for the handover of three Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) diagnostic tools from the Australian Government to the NTT Provincial Government to assist the province in handling ASF transmission.
According to Angsar, from a total of 39,200 liters of disinfectant, so far, five thousand liters had been distributed to regions affected by the ASF virus.
He noted that several districts in Flores and Sumba islands have not taken the disinfectant assistance from the NTT government.
"We hope district governments in Flores and Sumba islands would immediately take the assistance, so that they can support pig farmers in their regions in preventing the transmission of the ASF virus," he stated.
Angsar noted that the medicine to treat the ASF virus had yet to be found. Thus, the effort that needs to be made is biosecurity, he added.
He further affirmed that if farmers continue to maintain the cleanliness of cages, it would minimize the spread of the ASF virus and can prevent deaths in pigs that can have a detrimental effect on the economy of farmers.
"The cleanliness of pig cages must continue to be maintained, so that without vaccination or medication, pigs will remain healthy," he remarked.
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Translator: Benediktus Sridin, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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