The Dominican Republic plans to slaughter thousands of hogs after African Swine Fever (ASF) was found in 11 provinces as of earlier this week. The government agreed to pay farmers market value for each pig slaughtered, as this is the only way they see fit to eradicate the disease.
According to Reuters, the country will have brigades with biosecurity suits come to farms that have had pigs test positive for ASF and they’ll proceed to take out the entire herd on the property, and then bury them in order to contain the spread of ASF.
Officials estimate that if they start the slaughter now, they should be able to end the outbreak in the Dominican within the next five months. The mass slaughter is estimated to create an economic loss of $180 million for the country.
