Mizoram suffered a financial loss of ₹114.64 crore in 2025 due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), which led to the death of more than 9,700 pigs across the state, an official from the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department said. Deputy Director (Disease Investigation and Epidemiology) Esther Lalzoliani Ralte told PTI that 9,711 pigs died due to ASF, while another 3,620 pigs were culled as a preventive measure between March and December last year. The outbreak affected 3,867 families during this period. ASF was first detected in Mizoram on March 21, 2021, at Lungsen village in Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border. Since then, the disease has severely impacted the state’s pig population. A total of 72,012 pigs has either died or been culled since 2021, affecting over 12,500 families and causing cumulative financial losses of ₹1,011.27 crore.
Of these, 52,979 pigs were culled to prevent the spread of the disease, Ralte said, adding that the last ASF-related pig deaths in the state were reported on December 8 last year. She further stated that compensation exceeding ₹14.51 crore, jointly provided by the Centre and the state government, has been disbursed to pig farmers for animals culled up to 2023. A proposal seeking ₹24.94 crore as compensation for pigs culled in 2024 has been submitted to the Centre, with the amount to be shared equally between the Centre and the state. However, no compensation is provided for pigs that die due to ASF.
According to official data, Mizoram recorded the highest pig fatalities in 2021, with 33,417 deaths, followed by 14,950 deaths in 2024 and 12,795 in 2022. The state also suffered its highest financial loss in 2024 at ₹336.4 crore, followed by ₹334.14 crore in 2021 and ₹210.32 crore in 2022.
Ralte noted that ASF outbreaks usually decline during winter but tend to resurface during warmer months. She also recalled that Mizoram had previously faced outbreaks of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2020, which killed thousands of pigs and piglets and resulted in losses estimated at ₹10.62 crore.
