YAOUNDE, Cameroon, May 23 (UPI) -- A fresh outbreak of African swine fever in northern Cameroon could result in farmers losing as many as 100,000 animals, officials said.
Veterinarians said they thought they had the disease under control in December but a new outbreak has resulted in the death and slaughter of hundreds of pigs, AfricaNews.com reported Monday.
"I had over 200 pigs ready for the market and was planning on conveying them to the south of the country when disaster struck about a fortnight ago," pig farmer Robert Ngaikoumi said. "The animals suddenly began dying and then the authorities issued a ban on the movement of pigs and before I knew it, they came and killed all of my livestock numbering over 300 animals. I don't know where I go from here."
Animal health experts said the virus, for which there is no vaccine, could spread to Chad and Nigeria.
Hundreds of pig farmers in the region stand to lose most, if not all, of their animals. Officials said the Logone and Chari division is the only one of five in the region spared when the disease first surfaced in April 2010.
