January 17, 2012

Belarus toughens up against African Swine Fever

The Ministry of Agriculture and Foodstuffs of Belarus has called for increased measures to combat the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) within the region.

The ministry states that local pig farms have been closed and thousands of pigs are culled with total losses at more than RUB8 billion (US$253 million).

The ministry has recently asked officials to carry out exercises for an emergency response against an ASF occurrence. Currently, only meat-processing enterprises are permitted to transport pigs by car, in which case disinfection should take place prior to each loading, stated the Ministry of Agriculture.

"Transportation and sale of pigs, procured from the public, shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the animal health rules for cleaning and disinfection of technological equipment and production facilities for organisations engaged in livestock slaughtering and meat processing," the ministry notes.