Encephalitis scare: MCD wants official slaughterhouse for pigs

After 17 blood samples from slaughtered pigs tested positive for Japanese Encephalitis (JE), the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have joined hands to increase surveillance to check the mosquito-borne viral disease that affects the brain.

After 17 blood samples from slaughtered pigs tested positive for Japanese Encephalitis (JE), the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have joined hands to increase surveillance to check the mosquito-borne viral disease that affects the brain.

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"We met the Delhi health minister and have decided to call a meeting of our veterinary and public health department and the Delhi government's animal husbandry department next week to think of ways to stop the spread of disease," said Dr VK Monga, chairman, public health committee, MCD. “It has to be a coordinated effort,” Monga added.

The civic agency will take 100 fresh samples of slaughtered pigs from the city next week that will be divided in two categories. "One sample will be collected from pigs that were reared in Delhi and the other will be from the pigs that were imported from other states. This way, we will be able to know whether the infection has come from outside or not," said a senior health ministry official.

There is no slaughterhouse for pigs in the city. However, in certain areas in Karol Bagh, Sadar Paharganj zone, etc., limited slaughtering is allowed.

"Culling of pigs is not an option, but we will lay emphasis on having good pig rearing places and an official slaughterhouse for pigs," said Monga.