Unidentified Epidemic Ravages Pigs in B’da

 

The Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam has banned the movement of pigs in and out of Mezam Division in the North West Region of Cameroon. The Prefectoral Order banning the movement of pigs came after thousands of pigs are reported to have died within the past week. According to sources to link to the Regional Delegation of livestock, the illness has not yet been identified. Moreso, the services of Livestock have proven helpless to the outbreak. Yet, sources hinted that samples of dead animals have channeled to the Centre Pasteur in Yaounde for examination. It is feared that if ravaging illness is not stopped, the pig sector in Mezam will be completely wiped off in the next days. At the beginning many farmers thought it was swine erysipelas, but the syndromes are completely different. Farmers complained that the pig starts by losing appetite and then dies within the next hours. The lack of pig slaughter houses and storage facilities have further complicated things for the farmers. Even though a vaccination campaign was recently launched in the Northwest, farmers have complained a variation in prices. “Presently the situation is pathetic because if the illness is not identified, I fear the sector will be wiped off” says Atomba Titus of the North West Pig Cooperative.

On the other hand, some farmers say it is the first time they are seeing such a ravaging disease.

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