A recent spate of pig deaths in some Arakan State townships is due to an outbreak of porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2), said U Win Soe, assistant director of the state’s Department Livestock Breeding and Veterinary, who cited lab test results.

“It is a disease of swine. Now, the weather is cold and their immune systems are lowered and infections spread among them. The disease infects pigs, not other animals or people,” he told DMG.

Symptoms of the swine disease include yellowing of the eyes, lack of appetite, runny nose, constipation and difficulty urinating.

A person who consumes pork from a pig that contracted the virus will not be infected as a result, according to the Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary, which is spraying disinfectant at pig farms in Ponnagyun Township, where many have died of the disease in recent weeks.

A total of 228 pigs died in December at Kala Chaung village in Ponnagyun Township, and about 10 pigs there are currently suffering from the disease, said U Maung Kyaw Than, the head of Kala Chaung village.

“Almost all pigs in the village have died from the disease,” he said.

The Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary is urging swine farmers to spray disinfectant at their farms and to regularly clean their pigs’ feeding troughs, as well as monitoring the entry of pigs and people to their farms to prevent the spread of PCV-2.