Over 2,000 pigs have died of an unidentified disease in some villages of Morang district in eastern Nepal in the past two months, an official said Sunday.
The disease, first seen in Dangihat and Karanari village of Morang district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu, claimed the lives of over 1,000 pigs in Letang village alone, Shambhu Yadav, an official of the District Livestock Services Office (DLSO), said, adding that eight boars and four buffaloes also died of the disease.
"The disease is believed to be air borne but we have not launched any investigation into it," Yadav noted.
Earlier, it was suspected that swine fever was the cause of the deaths but outbreak of avian flu in India has terrified the farmers of Morang district located close to India.
Farmers have been disposing the carcass of diseased animals in the nearby forest and the environment has been polluted there, according to Yadav.
Fever, dysentery, yawning and lack of appetite are the symptoms of the disease, Yadav added.