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Showing posts with label African. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African. Show all posts

13 August 2011

Russia: A state of emergency, African Swine Fever outbreak

//09 Aug 2011
In a district in the Krasnodar Region, a state of emergency has been declared due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF).
A private farm has been discovered to have been affected by African Swine Fever, however the source of the infection is still not known. At the private farm, 15 pigs had already died due to ASF.

According to authorities, 12,000 pigs in and around the Krylovskaya village, about three km from the private farm, are being culled, 50 of which have already died of the ASFV.

The state of emergency area is home to 11,839 pigs, the regional emergencies center stated.

The emergency was declared on Sunday.

Source: xinhuanet.com

03 July 2011

African Swine Fever spreading, European Russia threatened

//01 Jul 2011
All European parts of Russia may soon be affected by African Swine Fever as the virus has made its way to central Russia.
"We are on the verge of a new wave of proliferation of the virus," stated Nikolai Vlasov, deputy head Rosselkhoznadzor (the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance). Vlasov further added that five small farms in the central Russian region of Tver bordering the Moscow region had been registered to have been affected by the disease this year.


Outbreak of African Swine Fever in Tver Oblast
Rosselkhoznadzor reported on 10 June the outbreak of African Swine Fever in Tver Oblast . ASFV genetic material was detected in the samples of pathological material taken from a pig in the backyard in the Danilovskoe village, the Kalininsky Rayon, the Tver Oblast by the FGI “Tver Interoblast Veterinary Laboratory”.

The pathological material samples were sent to the All-Russia Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology of the Rosselkhozacademy to confirm the diagnosis.

A report by Reuters stated that Rosselkhoznadzor had previously this year pushed for a programme to eradicate ASF within seven years, costing around $400 million, however, the government has not approved this.

"If things continue to go as they do now in the Tver region, where wild boars are plentiful, the northwest of the country may soon start resembling the south," Vlasov stated.

Related websites:
•Reuters Canada
•Rosselkhoznadzor

31 May 2011

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.

29 May 2011

Global threat: African Swine Fever spreading

//27 May 2011
Warning of a likely imminent upsurge of a deadly pig disease in the Caucasus region and Russian Federation, FAO today called on affected countries to step up precautionary measures and for a concerted international effort to prevent the infection spreading more widely across the Northern Hemisphere.
GLobal threat
“African swine fever is fast becoming a global issue,” said Juan Lubroth, FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer. “It now poses an immediate threat to Europe and beyond. Countries need to be on the alert and to strengthen their preparedness and contingency plans.”

Measures recommended for countries by FAO include risk analyses to evaluate the situation and assess potential consequences. Such analyses should pave the way for fully-fledged contingency plans and provide the rationale for selecting disease-control strategies.

Importantly, there is currently no vaccine for the disease, which is very often lethal to pigs but is not harmful to humans.

Preventive action
Preventive strategies include quarantine, on-farm security and other measures aimed at minimizing the risk of ASF being introduced and becoming established. Early-warning contingency plans include epidemiological information-gathering, training and awareness campaigns.

African Swine Fever (ASF) was introduced into Georgia from southern Africa late in 2006, entering through the Black Sea port of Poti, where garbage from a ship was taken to a dump where pigs came to feed. Currently, ASF is spreading northwards at the rate of roughly 350 km a year.

Outbreaks are distinctly seasonal, with the highest number of cases registered in the summer and autumn. But as the ASF wave travels northwards a separate phenomenon, long-distance “jumps", is also occurring.

Finland
For example in the spring of 2011 ASF suddenly appeared in the port of Murmansk, more than 3000 km from southern Russia, and close to the border with Finland. In 2009 it leaped 2000 kilometers to St Petersburg where, however, it appears to have been contained after a relapse at the end of 2010 and again in March 2011.

ASF long-distance jumps are food-borne, with virus surviving in pig meat products taken by travellers. At the destination, food scraps may be fed to pigs, setting off a new outbreak.
The frequency of such jumps is increasing as the originally-infected territory enlarges. The ASF virus strain now spreading is a very aggressive one.

Buffer zone
ASF is now considered as being established in Georgia, Armenia and the southern part of the Russian Federation. And the number of long-distance outbreaks has increased this year.

Russia plans to set up a buffer zone next to the infected region, which may involve suspension of pig production in certain areas and measures directed at wild boar populations.

Still, progress will be difficult as farmers often appear not to be reporting ASF outbreaks for fear of seeing their pigs culled without adequate compensation.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

24 May 2011

African Swine Fever hits Cameroon, 100,000 animals could be lost

//24 May 2011
Cameroon has been struck by a fresh outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF). Northern Cameroon is facing the disease and it has been reported that as many as 100,000 animals could be lost due to ASF.
The disease was present in the country in December last year, however, it was believed to have been under control. But the country is in the grips of the new outbreak, which has resulted in the culling of hundreds of pigs.

"I had over 200 pigs ready for the market and was planning on conveying them to the south of the country when disaster struck about a fortnight ago. The animals suddenly began dying and then the authorities issued a ban on the movement of pigs and before I knew it, they came and killed all of my livestock numbering over 300 animals. I don't know where I go from here," stated pig farmer Robert Ngaikoumi.

There is currently no vaccine for African Swine Fever, and there are fears that the disease could make its way to Chad and Nigeria.

Source: UPI.com