Blue-ear

TAKEO provincial authorities said yesterday that more than 170 pig farms in the province had been treated with disinfectant designed to stop the spread of blue-ear after an outbreak of the disease led Prime Minister Hun Sen to ban pig imports last week.

Thai Ly, chief of Takeo’s office of animal health care and production, said farms in three districts – Trang, Kirivong and Daun Keo – had been treated as part of an effort that would cover the entire province. Farmers and pork sellers have been instructed to use disinfectant soap themselves, he said.

Nhek Prong, chief of Takeo’s agriculture department, said approximately 600 pigs in the province had died since the outbreak began, with 1,000 more showing symptoms.

Blue-ear, or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, has so far been reported in eight provinces. Concerns about the disease’s spread in the Kingdom emerged in May, when Svay Rieng provincial Governor Chheang Am banned pig imports from Vietnam. Hun Sen ordered a nationwide suspension of pig imports last week.