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Batam conducts citywide inspection on pig farms after African swine fever discovery

Batam conducts citywide inspection on pig farms after African swine fever discovery

File photo of pigs from Pulau Bulan arriving in Singapore. (Photo: TODAY/Najeer Yusof)

JAKARTA: The Indonesian city of Batam is conducting a citywide inspection of pig farms and pig sties, after a consignment of live pigs exported from the city to neighbouring Singapore was found to be infected with the African swine fever virus.

Mr Mardanis, the chief of Batam’s food security and agriculture agency, said that last month’s discovery of the African swine fever virus prompted authorities to stop all live pigs and carcasses from leaving Pulau Bulan.

“Not only was export to Singapore disrupted, (pig) supply to Batam city was also affected,” Mr Mardanis, who goes by one name, told CNA.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Apr 20 that pig carcasses originating from a farm in Pulau Bulan, just off Batam’s main island, were found to be infected with the virus. They were then removed from the abattoir line. 

Singapore has also stopped the import of live pigs from Pulau Bulan, which constitutes around 15 per cent of the country’s pork supply.

Pulau Bulan is the site of a large-scale pig farm owned by agribusiness company, Indotirta Suaka. According to data from Batam Agriculture Agency, the 1,500ha farm is capable of exporting 240,000 pigs a year to Singapore. 

Last week, a team of Indonesian veterinarians was sent to collect samples from the farm to be tested at a laboratory in Sumatra. The test confirmed that pigs on the farm were infected by the African swine fever virus.

Mr Mardanis said the island’s biosecurity measures have been tightened while pigs suspected of carrying the virus have been culled. Movement of people and goods to and from the island, he continued, has also been tightly monitored.

“We are also tightening biosecurity measures for all of Batam because the spread of this disease can come from other provinces,” Mr Mardanis said, adding that there will be added scrutiny for live animals and meat supplied from outside of the city.

Mr Mardanis said that his agency has also deployed hundreds of officials to inspect dozens of pig farms and individually-run pig sties across the 1,500 sq km city which consists of four main islands and several smaller ones.

“These farms will be harder to monitor because not all are registered. We don’t know for certain how many there are, but it is estimated that there are dozens,” he said, adding that none of these farms is industrial in scale like the one in Pulau Bulan.

Mr Mardanis said the agency has also issued posters and banners warning pig owners about the disease and its symptoms.

The African swine fever does not infect humans. However, it is highly contagious among boars and pigs and can even be transmitted through raw meat from infected animals.

The SFA requires pork exported to Singapore to be free of African swine fever.

Singapore imports pork from more than 20 sources, including live pigs from Malaysia, as well as chilled and frozen pork from Australia and Brazil.

Source: CNA/ni(as)

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