The government has warned of possible spread of the deadly African swine fever, which might have broken out in the country.

The announcement, which was made by Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), has now put farmers on high alert.

This is the first time the disease, which neither has a cure nor vaccine, is reported in Rwanda.

According to RAB, there are pigs that have been reported with the disease symptoms based on the screening that was carried out on one farm in Muyumbu in Rwamagana District.

While the viral disease was once reported in some neighbouring East African Community countries, it never spread into Rwanda.  

Among the symptoms of the disease include fever which is over 40 degrees Celsius, lack of appetite, failure to walk, shivering, reddening of parts of head, abdomen, arms, legs and others.

"Any pig farmer who seeks to sell or supply pigs must get a permit from veterinarians at sector level confirming that the pig has no disease and that they are complying with the African swine fever prevention guidelines,” reads a communique signed by Patrick Karangwa, the Director General of RAB.

Farmers were also ordered to stop grazing pigs on open fields, and instead adopt zero grazing.

The government also halted the slaughtering and consumption of pork from animals infected with the disease although it said the disease does not attack human beings.

"Farmers should ensure hygiene and sanitation (at their farms),” RAB warned, saying suspected symptoms should be reported to veterinarians.

It also encouraged farmers to embrace livestock insurance to avoid incurring losses in case of diseases.

Failure to comply with prevention guidelines, RAB said attracts a jail sentence of between six months to two years, and a fine of between Rwf100,000 and Rwf5 million.

Jean-Claude Shirimpumu, a pig farmer and chairperson of the Rwanda Pig Farmers' Association told The New Times that they are closely working with RAB to take strong measures to avoid the virus spread in case of any confirmed infections.

"This is a serious pandemic…because it has no cure nor vaccine. There is a time it broke out in China and all contaminated pigs were burnt,” he said.

According to statistics from RAB, Rwanda has a population of 1.38 million pigs.

The outbreak could reduce the population of pigs in the country and hurt the pork industry.

Rwanda livestock master plan targets to more than double that pig meat production to 67,076 tonnes by 2022.