April 5, 2022

Fijian minister says ASF is not in country

The African swine fever is not in Fiji, the country's Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment, Dr. Mahendra Reddy told the Fijian parliament.

He was responding to assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Alexander O'Connor's question as to what precautionary and mitigation measures were undertaken by the ministry to prevent the ASF from entering Fiji.

"The African swine fever had spread to the Pacific where PNG recorded its first outbreak in March 2020," Dr. Reddy said. "There is no known treatment and vaccination for this disease.

"Biosecurity Authority of Fiji (BAF) is a custodial of the Biosecurity Act 2008 and thus has a mandate to protect Fiji against exotic diseases that would affect plant and animal health status.

"At the moment, we are importing pork products from mainly two countries, Australia and New Zealand, and these two countries have no known cases of African swine fever until now."

Dr. Reddy added that his ministry was not allowing anyone to bring in pork meat for personal consumption.

"For commercial use, they can only get it from Australia and New Zealand, from certified companies approved by BAF following certain protocols," he added.

- The Fiji Times