Indonesia detects African swine fever in most of its provinces

JAKARTA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Multiple cases of African swine fever have been detected in 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces, an official said on Monday, warning of the risk of further spread of a disease that has killed thousands of pigs in the country this year. Sahat Panggabean of Indonesia’s quarantine agency said the highest density of cases was in East Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Riau provinces, and urged local leaders to raise awareness and report more cases to authorities. African swine fever is not dangerous to humans but is fatal to pigs and can cause huge losses for farmers. “We have provided specific land for disposal as well as incinerators to burn the carcasses,” he told a weekly government meeting broadcast live, urging communities to avoid dumping infected or dead pigs into rivers. Panggabean did not provide an estimate of how many pigs have died from the disease in Indonesia this year. He said 6,273 pigs died ...