January 20, 2022

 

Pork supply remains sufficient in Penang state, Malaysia, despite African swine fever outbreak

 

Chow Kon Yeow, the Chief Minister of Penang state, Malaysia, said pork supply remains sufficient despite an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) detected in 11 commercial swine farms in the state, Malay Mail reported.

 

Penang exports pork, but the minister said due to the ASF outbreak, it is not permitted to do so.

 

He also said that Penang will not import pork from other states.

 

Chow said that the carcasses of the diseased swine that were culled due to ASF will be buried in vacant sites owned by Penang Development Corporation (PDC).

 

He said that PDC had undeveloped land in its land bank that might be utilised.

 

To limit the impact on the public, he said the sites for the burial of the carcasses are far from residential areas.

 

He said that there won't be much of an environmental impact from this strategy.

 

Because there were so many swine, he said burning the bodies would not be feasible.

 

Penang state declared the ASF outbreak as a disaster after more than 25,000 pigs were infected with the virus.

 

4,000 swine from three farms have been culled and disposed.

 

The Malaysia Veterinary Services Department (DVS) said that there are 124 swine farms in Penang with 267,348 swine in total.

 

-      Malay Mail