Future Prospective
Nepal Government and related stakeholders may find it extremely
difficult to control the epidemics of ASF after its introduction looking
at the previous disease outbreak scenarios (Acharya et al., 2020). Amid
the fear of ASF outbreaks, ban on the import of pig products by
Government (HNS, 2019) is certainly an initiation of the efforts, but as
long as illegal drift continues in the system (Panta, 2018), the imposed
ban may not have any significance. Strict quarantine measures at the
borders; strong coordination among national, federal and local
governments for disease surveillance and reporting; restriction of
illegal transport of the pigs and pig products; and awareness about the
transmission dynamics of the disease among the traditional and modern
pig farmers; and adaptation of strict biosecurity measures in pig farms
are essential to containing the possible hazard due to the virus. The
travel restrictions amidst the coronavirus pandemic may have reduced the
transmission probability for the time-being but the entry of the virus
through any of the borders is likely to have substantial effects in pig
industry of Nepal that may result in pig losses due to deaths or
culling; decreased production; reduced export of the pig products; and
lowered income for a very long time (Acharya & Wilson, 2020).