New swine fever outbreaks
The number of Romanian counties hit by the African swine fever is growing
Roxana Vasile, 18.09.2018, 12:21
On May 1, 2018, Romania had 4.129 million pigs, down over 357,000 compared to the same date last year. Since the summer of 2017, almost 233,000 pigs have been culled because of the African swine fever. According to the latest report from the National Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, the African swine fever virus is present in over 200 localities in 13 counties, after the Bucharest Animal Health and Diagnostic Institute confirmed the disease in Dambovita County, in the south of Romania, at the end of last week. Sandu Tolea, the chief of the Dambovita County Veterinary Directorate, told us about the measures taken at local level:
“A 3-km buffer zone and a 10-km monitoring zone have been set. Also, our staff jointly with County Police Inspectorate teams have roadblocks in place in the area.
The number of outbreaks in Romania is close to 900, including large industrial units. Officials in the sanitary-veterinary sector insist that elementary rules must be complied with, in order to stop the disease from spreading. According to the Agriculture Minister Petre Daea, the ones to blame at this point for the growing number of African swine fever cases are the people themselves:
“Veterinarians must be alerted every time a pig owner notices any symptoms. If someone plans to slaughter a pig, they have to do it only in the presence of a veterinarian. The vet will then take a small piece of the meat for laboratory tests to see whether the pig had this virus. Unless this rule is observed across the country, we will fail to contain the disease.
In other words, any suspicion must be communicated immediately. All the animals suspected of having the disease must be killed, and the owners will receive compensations.
The African swine fever does not affect humans, so people are at no risk whatsoever. But the virus does have a huge impact, in economic and social terms. So merely transporting infected pork from one place to another may have dramatic consequences. And since 75 out of 100 pigs in private households in the European Union are raised in Romania, the risk of spreading the disease is enormous.
And to make matters even worse, the authorities fear that Romania might also be hit by the ovine rinderpest (or PPR) virus, after the neighbouring Bulgaria reported 6 such outbreaks. The disease infects sheep and goats, and it can have a 70% mortality rate. For this reason, the authorities have banned the shipping and purchasing of animals and reproductive materials, namely egg cells and embryos, from the affected localities, and the imports of such products in Romania.
(Translated by A.M. Popescu)
