A Groot Aub farmer has lost 20 pigs in three days to an unknown disease, raising fears of further losses as veterinary tests are awaited.
The pigs reportedly started dying on Sunday at around 13h00.
Andreas Valombola (43), who started his piggery three years ago, says three pigs died at around 13h00 on Sunday, 15 on Monday morning and two more yesterday morning.
Valombola had 65 pigs before the deaths, leaving him with 45.
He suspects the animals may have contracted an infectious disease, possibly foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), but the cause has not been confirmed yet.
“There are horses which come into my yard. I don’t know who the owner is or where they come from, but they just roam around,” he told The Namibian yesterday.
Valombola said the pigs appeared healthy when he visited the farm on Friday. On Saturday, he said he received a call informing him that the animals were dying.
When The Namibian visited the farm on Monday, some of the dead pigs had white foam around their mouths, while others had blood around their mouths.
Some also had visible wounds around their ears, stomachs and anal areas.
The farmer also keeps 22 sheep and 11 lambs, but none have died.
Valombola said he had been building his piggery over the past three years and is frustrated by the sudden losses.
“My farm was just starting to grow, now my animals are dying,” he said.
Vets who spoke to him over the phone when reporters visited the farm suspected that the pigs could be dying from poison.
The doctors suggested that the pigs be burnt with paraffin to prevent the disease that might have killed them from spreading to other animals.
Veterinarian Mauricio Adelino, however, says it is unlikely that FMD alone would explain the sudden deaths of so many pigs, although infectious diseases cannot be ruled out without investigation.
“FMD does not kill like that. It is not lethal, unless the pigs have been sick for quite some time,” he said yesterday.
Adelino said the deaths could also be linked to salt poisoning, which can occur when animal feed is mixed incorrectly, or to problems involving contaminated feed or water deprivation.
He said a shared source of contaminated feed or water could cause several animals to die within a short period.
“Again, with limited history and lack of vaccination from the farmer, we cannot rule out infectious diseases. Possible lethal diseases are African swine fever and classical swine fever,” he said.
Valombola suspects the pigs may have contracted an infection from the horses which roam around his farm.
The deaths have left the farmer concerned about the future of his piggery and the possibility of further losses.
University of Namibia veterinarian Riamana Tjimbundu yesterday said FMD cannot be transmitted from a horse to a pig, as horses do not have cloven hooves.
He said FMD can kill multiple animals because it is highly contagious, however, other diseases, including African swine fever, could also be responsible for the deaths.
Tjimbundu said samples need to be collected and tested to determine the cause of the deaths.
Veterinarians from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform visited the farm on Monday and collected samples from the animals.
The results are expected between tomorrow and Friday.
