November 17, 2011

African swine flu affects Russia's Black Belt region

The two recent outbreaks of ASF have affected the Black Belt region where the main pork production area of Russia is based, and a third of the pig stock concentrated in the country.

Belgorod region, which also belongs to part of Black Belt region, has all the major pig complexes.

ASF has been registered as one of the largest farms in the Rostov region. Rosselkhoznadzor confirmed that the pork producing enterprise of the company in "Bataisk" has seen a new outbreak of ASF. The presence of the disease has been confirmed in the Regional Veterinary Laboratory and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute. Total pig stock at the farm where the outbreak was found is about 4,000 heads, reported Rosselkhoznadzor.

Also, last week saw another outbreak of African swine fever that was first registered in the Voronezh region - at a private farm, which contained 700 head of pigs. According to preliminary estimates by the Veterinary Services of the Black Belt Region, the two outbreaks had killed over 11,000 pigs.

Officials added that in both cases, the outbreaks happened due to the use of infected feed - heat-treated food waste. A state of emergency has been declared in both regions.

Two cases of pig mortality have been recently registered in the Black Earth - one in the Kursk and another in the Voronezh region, about 20kilometres from the border of the Belgorod region. The pathological material from dead animals was sent to veterinary laboratories to confirm the presence of ASF.