Materia Medica Malaysiana

Pigs Died Of Fever And Poisoning, Not Japanese Encephalitis

MELAKA, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Early reports indicate the cause of death of more than 100 pigs in Kampung Paya Mengkuang in Alor Gajah to be due to acute swine fever and suspected poisoning.
State Chairman for Human Resources, Health and Consumer Affairs Datuk Seah Kwi Tong urged the people not to panic, as the deaths had nothing to do with the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus.
"The deaths occurred in a single shed and did not spread to surrounding sheds or to humans," he told reporters here Wednesday.
He was commenting on reports by several newspapers on the deaths of 120 pigs in a farm in the village over the last five days.
He said the initial reports were based on post-mortem conducted on two carcasses by a private doctor from Shah Alam, Selangor.
According to Seah, as a precautionary measure, the movement of the pigs in the farm had been restricted since last Sunday.
"We also contacted the Veterinary Laboratory in Petaling Jaya last Monday to investigate the disease affecting the pigs," he said.