Thousands of pigs die as swine fever spreads in Plateau

James Abraham

Pig farmers in Plateau State have raised the alarm over the outbreak of African Swine Fever, a highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs.

The farmers said the outbreak had resulted in the death of thousands of pigs and the closure of hundreds of farms, with estimated losses running into billions of naira.

In an open letter addressed to the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, and obtained by our correspondent in Jos on Saturday, the farmers appealed for urgent government intervention to prevent what they described as the collapse of the state’s piggery industry.

Speaking on the impact of the outbreak, the leader of the pig farmers and Veterinary Consultant at Saction Hub Limited, Joseph Yonkpa, said the scale of the losses was already severe, although the exact figure had yet to be determined.

“I cannot quantify the number of deaths at the moment, but they are in thousands. You can rightly say thousands of pigs have died,” he said.

He disclosed that the outbreak had forced widespread farm closures across the state.

“At the moment, hundreds of pig farms have closed. Both small and large farms have been affected. The big farms in Plateau State have already shut down because of the outbreak of African Swine Fever,” he added.

Describing the situation as “catastrophic,” Yonkpa said Plateau is one of the country’s largest pork-producing states, supplying pork to neighbouring Kaduna and Nasarawa states as well as markets across southern Nigeria.

According to him, the industry provides livelihoods for thousands of farmers, farm workers, transporters, processors and marketers, while contributing significantly to the state’s internally generated revenue.

Yonkpa explained that African Swine Fever, a highly contagious viral disease with no known cure or vaccine, had severely disrupted operations and weakened market confidence.

“Thousands of pigs worth billions of naira have been lost. The price of pork has crashed to less than ₦2,000 per kilogramme of carcass due to panic sales and loss of consumer confidence. Farmers are unable to restock and are struggling to survive in this harsh economy,” he said.

To mitigate the crisis, he urged Mutfwang to establish an Emergency Response Committee through the Ministry of Livestock Development, Veterinary Services and Fisheries.

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According to him, the committee should “assess the extent of the damage across the state, provide immediate technical support, biosecurity materials and palliatives to affected farmers, as well as develop a recovery and restocking plan.”

Yonkpa warned of broader economic consequences if urgent action was not taken.

“If this crisis is not urgently addressed, it risks crippling a key sector of the state economy and worsening food insecurity and unemployment, especially since Plateau State is one of the largest consumers of pork in Nigeria,” he stressed.

He, however, expressed confidence in the governor’s commitment to agriculture and the welfare of Plateau citizens, adding that pig farmers “were hopeful that the state government would respond swiftly to save the industry from total collapse.”

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