An estimated 1,011 wild boar in Germany have contracted African swine fever since an initial report last autumn and several countries have put up meat import ban from Germany.

About African Swine Fever (ASF):

• It is a highly contagious and mostly fatal animal disease.
• It infects domestic and wild pigs, resulting in an acute form of hemorrhagic fever.
  • Hemorrhagic fevers refers to illness caused by four families of viruses- Ebola and Marburg, Lassa fever, and yellow fever viruses.
• ASF’s first case was detected in Africa in the 1920s.
• The mortality is almost 100 per cent.
• Since there is no treatment known, the only way to stop it spreading is by culling the animals.
• ASF is not a threat to human beings. It is known to spread only from animals to other animals.
• According to the FAO, ASF has high potential for transboundary spread. It is a disease of growing strategic importance in context ofglobal food security and household income.

RESPOND Program

Why in News?

Recently, ISRO has announced that it will support eight research projects mooted by the Space Technology Cell (STC), IIT-Delhi.

About RESPOND Program:

• RESPOND(Research Sponsored) Program was started by ISRO in 1970s.
• Its objective is to encourage academia to contribute to various Space related research activities.