October 27, 2008

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation in the country's south where 117 pigs died of African Swine Fever, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Friday (October 24).

The outbreak in a single piggery in the Stravropolck region was due to a breach of sanitation laws, officials told the news agency.

According to the regional government press service, 117 of the 460 pigs in the pen succumbed to the virus between October 15 and 22.

African Swine Fever is highly contagious. The virus resists inactivation, and can persist in meat up to 15 weeks, processed hams up to six months and up to one month in contaminated pens.

It is endemic in a swath of southern Africa and on the Iberian peninsula in Europe.