Myanmar bans pigs from Yangon as infection spreads

Authorities in
Myanmar are making an endeavour to
prevent a pigs related blue ear disease from
spreading to various regions of the country.

For this, the authorities have banned pigs
bred in Bago region from entering Yangon
region for sale as part of its preventive
measures, Xinhua reported.
Blue ear disease, known as Porcine
Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome
(PRRS) disease, has been infecting pigs from
Paungde township and spreading the
disease to other areas in Bago region, the
Weekly Eleven said Monday.

Bago is located in the southern central part
of the country while Yangoon lies in the
heart of lower Myanmar. Both are
administrative regions of the country.

Bago stands at third place in the blue ear
disease incidence after the second largest
city of Mandalay in March and the new
capital of Nay Pyi Taw in April.
Everyday about 10 or 15 pigs die of the blue
ear disease in some pigsties in Bago.

Blue ear disease was first reported in
Mandalay in early March when over 500
heads of pig died. These pigs were among
the 2,000 bred in 200 poultry farms in five
townships in Mandalay region, the
authorities said.

So far, the disease, detected from the dead
pigs, has not spread to other animals or
human but has been found to infect other
pigs, reports said.

There are a total of 9.3 million pigs in the
country.