At a press conference here, Selangor DVS director Dr Hassuzana Khalil said tests found 76,000 infected pigs in 56 of the 114 pig farms.

She said orders had been issued to 14 pig farmers under Section 19 of the Animals Act 1953, which pertains to the destruction of diseased animals. The other farmers will get their orders this week.

“As of today, approximately 1,200 pigs have been culled in accordance with the Malaysian veterinary services standard operating procedures. All pigs were humanely culled using carbon dioxide gas and buried within the farm premises,” she said.

Hassuzana said about half of the infected pigs had died from the virus, and that the DVS planned to cull the rest.

She said the department had imposed strict movement controls on the transportation of pigs and carcasses, designating transport routes to curb the spread of the virus.

In a recent operation dubbed “Ops ASF”, the DVS inspected 37 pig transport vehicles and seized six vehicles, including one roll-on/roll-off transporter, she said.

A total of 68 pigs and approximately 9,405.7kg of pig carcasses were seized for various offences under Sections 34 and 36 of the Animals Act pertaining to the moving or disposal of diseased or suspected diseased animals.

Hassuzana said the department would launch a new awareness campaign to enhance biosecurity in pig farms and prevent the spread of ASF to other states.

She gave the department’s assurance that ASF was a host-specific virus that only affected pigs, with no risk to humans.

The first recorded case of ASF in Malaysia was in Sabah, with other states such as Perak and Penang eventually also recording cases.