Punjab Government on Tuesday declared and notified four more areas in Patiala district as the African Swine Fever-infected zones. Villages Rawas Brahmanan and Gangrola, Babu Singh Colony Ablowal, and Baba Jeewan Singh Basti Passi road, Patiala, have been notified as epicenters of the disease after the confirmation of ASF in the samples of these areas by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – National High Security Animal Disease Institute, Bhopal, said the state Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. Taking immediate action to contain the disease, the Animal Husbandry Department has declared 0 to 1 kilometre area of the epicenters as “infected zones” while 0 to 10 KM (9 KM) area is classified as surveillance zones. Bhullar appealed to the people that there is no need to panic over African Swine Fever as this disease is non-zoonotic, hence it does not infect humans. This is an incurable and fatal disease which can be prevented only by adopting precautions, he added.
