Aizawl, Jan 16 (IANS) Mizoram suffered a financial loss of around Rs 115 crore between March and December 2025 due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), officials said on Friday.
An official of Mizoram’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AHVD) said that ASF killed over 9,710 pigs between March and December 2025, while over 3,620 other pigs were culled during the same period to prevent further spread of the highly infectious disease.
Due to the deaths and culling, farmers in the state suffered a financial loss of Rs 115 crore, the official said.
In view of the prevailing winter season, the intensity of the ASF outbreak in Mizoram has currently declined sharply.
According to the official, the ASF outbreak was first reported at Lungsen village in southern Mizoram’s Lunglei district, near the Bangladesh border, on March 21, 2021.
Since March 2021, over 72,000 pigs have died due to ASF, affecting more than 12,500 pig-rearing families and causing a cumulative financial loss of Rs 1,011.27 crore over the past nearly five years.
The official said that a total of 52,980 pigs have been culled since 2021 to prevent further spread of the disease.
The Central government has so far provided Rs 14.51 crore as compensation to affected pig farmers, while the state government has submitted a proposal to the Centre seeking compensation of Rs 24.94 crore.
The state government has also provided compensation to affected families from its end.
Mizoram suffered the highest losses due to ASF in 2024, with pig farmers incurring losses estimated at Rs 336.40 crore, followed by Rs 334.14 crore in 2021 and Rs 210.32 crore in 2022.
In 2025, Siaha district in southern Mizoram remains the worst affected, with over 3,645 pig deaths reported from 45 villages and localities, affecting around 1,370 families. Around 970 pigs have also been culled in the district as a containment measure.
Besides Siaha, other major affected districts include Lawngtlai, Khawzawl, Hnahthial, Lunglei, Aizawl, Mamit and Champhai.
The Mizoram government has been urging farmers to remain vigilant and cooperate with AHVD officials in efforts to curb the spread of ASF.
As the highly communicable virus continues to pose a serious threat to the state’s pig population, preventive measures remain a top priority for the authorities. Several AHVD teams are regularly visiting affected areas to closely monitor the situation and take immediate steps to contain the disease.
Experts said that ASF is a highly dangerous and easily transmissible disease with a very high fatality rate, causing up to 100 per cent mortality in infected animals. It affects domestic pigs and wild boars, and there is no treatment or vaccine available to prevent or control the disease.
However, ASF does not affect humans.
Pork is among the most widely consumed meats among both tribal and non-tribal communities in the eight northeastern states. With heavy demand for pork, the annual business in the region is estimated at around Rs 8,000-10,000 crore, with Assam being the largest supplier. As Myanmar’s Chin state shares an unfenced border with six Mizoram districts — Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Serchhip — while the Bangladesh border is also unfenced, experts said that cross-border movement of pigs and pork could be one of the reasons behind the ASF outbreak in the state.
–IANS
sc/vd
