A perspective on the first and subsequent outbreaks (2020-2022) of African swine fever in India and its impact on agriculture and environment

Abstract

The first report of African Swine Fever (ASF) was confirmed in India in April 2020, making it the second cross-border disease in India after SARS-CoV-2 induced COVID-19. The northeastern states of India – Assam and Arunachal Pradesh confirmed the first case of ASF in the last week of April 2020. Subsequently, almost all northeastern states of India reported ASF outbreaks successively by April 2021. The ASF outbreaks in 2022 were reported from northern, eastern and southern parts of India which include Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. Such outbreaks not only severely threaten economy and livelihood of people involved in pig farming, but also have severe environmental consequences ranging from contamination of natural water bodies to the extinction of threatened species. In this COVID-19 pandemic, concerns arising due to ASF on the farming economy and environment, in the Indian context, have largely remained ignored. This paper attempts to address agricultural and environmental issues, and further risks, developing due to the first and subsequent outbreaks of ASF in India.