Experts: African Swine Fever still a threat despite absence of virus

//31 May 2011
Since 23 May the Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod region in Russia has been reported to no longer be under quarantine. The region was associated with an outbreak of African Swine Fever recently, but the absence of the virus has been confirmed on 13 May.
"Specialists have finished the organizational and animal health measures to eliminate hotbeds of African Swine Fever and to prevent the disease from spreading in adjacent territories in the period of quarantine from 18 April to 20 May,” stated the Committee of state veterinary control. “Since 23 May the sale of pork products to markets of the area is permitted," added region officials.

The quarantine was imposed following the registration of African Swine Fever found in a backyard in the Volodarsky region on 18 April. The Rostov region, where a few months earlier African Swine Fever was discovered, is also no longer under quarantine.

Epidemic still a threat
However, experts believe it is too early to say that the epidemic is receding - recently two new outbreaks were recorded in the Krasnodar region and the Vladimir region. In each case, the investigation of pathological material sampled from the dead pigs by the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology, gave a positive result. Animals were infected with Classical Swine Fever.

Since the beginning of the year in Russia more than twenty cases of African Swine Fever were officially registered. According to experts there is a very high probability of occurrence of new virus outbreaks in the Kuban and the Caucasus regions.