November 25, 2010

Russian region hit by African swine fever

An outbreak of African swine fever has hit Russia's Krasnodar and is threatening to spread throughout the southern region, regional governor Alexander Tkachev said Wednesday (Nov 24).

The African swine fever threatens all the region's 1.1 million pigs, which equates to over 6% of the Russia's total pig population.

According to Tkachev, the virus had already spread to five districts, and there was a danger it would spread throughout the region. "We risk losing an industry which in the last few years has received considerable state and private investment. Financial losses will be in the tens of billions of rubles," he said.

Tkachev said previous outbreaks had seen all farmers compensated when they had been forced to slaughter their pigs. However, he said the regional government's policy now is to offer compensation to those farmers who have "done their utmost" to tackle the problem. Farmers who have done nothing to tackle the situation will receive no financial compensation and could even be fined, Tkachev said.

The regional government and the regional branch of the federal emergencies ministry have imposed strict controls on the movement of pigs and pork in the region, threatening criminal action against anyone transporting pigs and pork without proper accompanying documentation.