African Swine Fever: Bulgaria imposes countrywide ban on transport of pigs
A countrywide ban on the transportation of pigs to and from breeding farms and slaughterhouses has come into effect, as a step against African Swine Fever (ASF), the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency said.
The ban will remain in effect while official checks are carried out for ASF at pig holdings, on vehicles used to transport them and at the final destinations of the animals, the agency said.
Samples will be taken from all dead pigs at all pig holdings, under the control of an official veterinarian, and the samples will be examined “solely and exclusively” at the national laboratory in Sofia.
Cleaning and disinfection will be carried out at the meat-producing enterprises. After proving the effectiveness of the disinfection, the slaughter of animals from ASF-free enterprises will be allowed.
Thorough disinfection will also be carried out on the means of transport of live animals, their feed and slaughter products. After the absence of the virus has been proven, disinfection will be carried out on the entire vehicle each time it enters a pig or meat production establishment.
The agency said that since the beginning of 2020, five outbreaks of ASF have been registered, two of which were at industrial farms in the village of Nikola Kozlevo, Shoumen district, and the village of Brestak, Varna district.
The other outbreaks were confirmed at a farm in Shoumen, a family farm in the village of Gergini, Gabrovo district, and in a backyard farm in the village of Borov Dol in the Sliven district.
The agency said that an examination had shown that the farm in Nikola Kozlevo had failed to take the necessary biosecurity measures to prevent the disease from penetrating. An examination at the farm in Brestak, which has links with the farm in Nikola Kozlevo, is pending. Following the completion of the inspection, it will be determined which of the two pig farms was the source of the infection, the agency said.
(Photo via Pixabay)
