Officials at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge border checkpoint have stepped up spraying a disinfectant on trucks in an attempt to prevent African swine fever from coming into Thailand from neighbouring countries.
They are targeting the trucks as they return from delivering live and slaughtered pigs to those nations.
Jongcharoen Maksuwan, chief of the Nong Khai animal quarantine office, said officials stepped up the disinfectant spaying following reports of a African swine fever outbreak in Laos.
Following the reports, the Livestock Development Department had totally banned imports of pigs and pork from Laos.
Jongcharoen said no pigs are normally imported at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge border checkpoint, but live and slaughtered pigs are exported through the spot.
He said authorities require that trucks returning from delivering the pigs be sprayed at a cleaning facility at the border checkpoint.
Officials have increased the ratio of disinfectant from one litre per 600 litres of water to one litre per 200 litres of water for better efficiency in disease control, he added.
