October 13, 2022

African swine fever detected at Romanian swine farm

Romania has detected an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak as a major swine farm in Timis county, west of the country, with 39,000 livestock set to be culled to prevent the spread of the disease, Reuters reported.

Eastern Europe has recently been affected by spread of ASF.

The county prefect Mihai Ritivoiu announced that there was an outbreak in Timis and that local officials and the food safety agency were meeting to decide what to do next.

He said to stop the disease from spreading, they must take action, adding that protecting two other farms with tens of thousands of swine each located a few kilometres away is a top priority.

This year, swine kept in backyards, smallholdings, as well as a number of large private farms, were the subject of hundreds of ASF cases reported in Romania and several other European Union states.

Recently, outbreaks were also confirmed in Italy and Germany.

-      Reuters