Farms in North West have now also been placed under precautionary quarantine following an outbreak of swine flu.
Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said the outbreak was first detected on a farm in Gauteng and that the provincial veterinary services had launched an investigation to identify any properties that could have had direct or indirect contact with the affected farm. As a result farms in North West and the Free State have now also been placed under precautionary quarantine.
“The ASF (African Swine Fever) negative status of these farms will be confirmed before the precautionary quarantine can be lifted. The source of the infection on the positive farm has not yet been identified, but it is believed that the infection was already on the farm from mid-December,” he said.
The department urged pig farmers to only buy pigs directly from known healthy herds and to prevent contact between their pigs and other pigs or wildlife.