Authorities in Nong Het District, Xieng Khouang Province have seized and killed hundreds of smuggled pigs from Vietnam, which were infected with a deadly and contagious virus.
Lao Post reports that 240 pigs were disposed of after they were imported illegally by fresh market vendors from Vietnam to Laos.
The results from the Real-Time PCR tests confirmed that 10 samples from the pigs were found to be infected with African Swine Fever (ASF), according to the report.
Veterinary officers buried the infected pigs in the district landfill at a depth of 5 meters and sprayed disinfectant on the landfill and the vehicles that transported the pigs.
The authorities in the province will take further measures to regulate and prevent the spread of the disease immediately.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced the suspension of pork importation from Thailand and Vietnam in March amid the outbreak of African Swine Fever in the two countries.
China and Thailand prohibited pork and pig product imports from Laos in 2019 following the country’s first outbreak of African Swine Fever with Laos also issuing a ban on pork importation from Vietnam and China due to the viral outbreak in the same year.
