November 28, 2007

Outbreak of classical swine fever in Russian pigs

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) issued an alert on the outbreak of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) in Savostino village in South-west Russia.

To-date, four cases have been identified in wild pigs in the area. The animals have been slaughtered immediately.

Preventive measures taken by the Russian government include the screening of other animals in the vicinity, quarantine, vaccination and the set-up of a control zone.

CSF, which is caused by an RNA pest virus, has no treatment. Infected animals should be slaughtered right away. CSF can be controlled by exclusion or eradication in most countries. In EU, a slaughter policy has been imposed upon the detection of this fever.