Authorities this week announced that an outbreak of swine fever in Papua province has since April killed at least 8,700 pigs, mostly in the southern coastal region of Mimika.
Livestock health authorities have been shipping vaccines to the region in an effort to contain the virus.
Swine fever, also known as hog cholera, is highly infectious among farm-raised pigs and wild boars, but is not dangerous to humans.
Although pigs are not very popular in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, they are status symbols and indicators of wealth in Papua, which is predominantly Roman Catholic.
Locals say some Papuan tribes still follow the traditional custom of trading pigs for brides.
