Russia: ASF strikes again
Only a few days after Russian authorities officially declared African swine fever was under control, a new outbreak was detected. This time it was in the Kalmykia, a region where it was previously absolutely safe concerning ASF.
The Veterinary Services have introduced a quarantine, but officials fear that the further spread of the virus, since the dead pigs were found near the drainpipe, which pours into the local lake, a major source of drinking water in the region. In the quarantine area several thousand heads of pigs were located, and veterinary services also noted that the prevention measures concerning ASF were not carried out by the local farmers at all. The outbreak ASF of Kalmykia was completely unexpected.
Now under the control of the Republican administration of Rosselkhoznadzor special measures are being carried out to eliminate the source of infection and prevent the spread of the African swine fever causative agent.
There were also reports that in two neighbouring villages in private households pigs were found that were dead from an unknown illness. Rosselkhoznadzor experts are currently studying samples from dead animals, to determine the presence of African swine fever.
Experts are currently unable to explain how the virus got into the Kalmykia area, as it does not border with any other region, where registered ASF outbreaks were found recently.
(By Vladislav Vorotnikov)
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