Animal virology

Greece bans pork imports from Bulgaria. Border checks are rigorous. Imports of pork and pork products are completely banned, BNR reports.

Preventive measures are being taken against the spread of African swine fever. The control of the authorities in the border regions with Bulgaria is strong.

From July 31 to Monday, August 5, a state of emergency was declared in the Northern Bulgarian region of Silistra because of a confirmed case of African Swine Fever in a pig-breeding farm in the village of Popina. The Regional Food Safety Directorate will organize a 12-hour inspection at slaughterhouses in Dulovo, Tutrakan, and Sitovo in the area.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has established a new outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at an industrial farm in the village of Popina, Sitovo municipality, Silistra district. The positive samples were laboratory confirmed today, July 30, 2019, by the National Reference Laboratory at the National Diagnostic Veterinary Research Institute in Sofia.

Today will be the announced official results of the National Reference Laboratory in Sofia for the wild pigs that were shot in the Plovdiv Forestry area. A private laboratory has already confirmed the presence of African swine fever. This is the first case in southern Bulgaria.

The Regional Epizootic Commission in Plovdiv is currently holding an extraordinary meeting due to a possible case of African swine fever in Southern Bulgaria.

According to preliminary information, two wild pigs were infected, which were shot near the Zdravets hut in the Rhodopes on Sunday. Samples were sent to the Reference Laboratory in Sofia.

The State Agricultural Fund ceases to carry out on-the-spot physical checks on pig holdings throughout the country. The ban has been imposed by an Order of the fund's Executive Director, Vasil Grudev. It is part of the state's crisis response measures to prevent and combat the spread of African swine fever (ASF).

The euthanasia of pigs in Vidin has started, there is no need to declare a state of emergency over the African swine fever outbreak, Tsvetan Asenov, Deputy Mayor of Vidin Municipality, told Focus Radio after a "backyard" pig tested positive for African swine fever last week.

The main danger for the spread of African swine fever are the backyards. Domestic pigs are released down the streets and to the dunghills where wild pigs go and the infection is transmitted. The executive director of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency Damyan Iliev explained this in the BNT's Morning Bloc.

Greece has introduced a high level of vigilance and border control with Bulgaria to prevent the spread of African swine fever, the BNR said.

The Agrarian Ministry, as well as all food control services, are paying close attention to the spread of African swine fever in Bulgaria and Romania.

The Regional Food Safety Directorate in Vidin received a signal of a a pig with African swine fever in a private property. The necessary samples have been taken and the results are now expected.

The euthanasia of the pigs in two of the pigs complexes in Russe continues. Two thirds of the animals were killed in the village of Nikolovo, and in the village of Brushlen half.