Killing Of Pigs One Option To Curb JE Deaths: Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: With the death toll due to the deadly vector-borne disease of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) increasing in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, the state administration on Friday said culling of pigs is one of the solutions to curb the spread of the disease.

Fisheries and Animal Resources department secretary Bishnupad Sethi said killing of pigs is one of the options to contain the killer disease.

He said about 2400 pigs of 33 villages in Malkangiri are kept in the enclosure so that the disease would not spread to other localities.

He said it requires the district collectors could inform on the killing of the pigs.

The district administration would provide compensation to the affected farmers.

Japanese Encephalitis has already claimed 40 lives in the tribal-dominated district. More than 60 children are undergoing treatment at the hospital, sources said.

Meanwhile, the en masse hacking of pigs to death and eating pork of the killed pigs have gone up in the district following the spread of disease.