African swine fever reported in Kerala's Pathanamthitta

African swine fever has been reported from a pig farm in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, officials said here on Monday.

The disease was confirmed among pigs of a farm in the Seethathodu panchayat after the samples were tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.

According to an official from the district Animal Husbandry Department, the samples were sent for testing after pigs at the farm in the panchayat died en masse.

The official said measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the disease to other pigs and animals and an area within one-kilometer radius of the farm has been declared as an affected area.

An order has been issued under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act 2005, banning the transportation of pigs to and from the affected area within 10 kms of its radius for a period of three months.

African swine fever is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease affecting domestic pigs.