Classical swine fever

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.

Culling the pigs infected with African swine fever is the only way to contain the situation in Bulgaria, said Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.

Greece has banned imports of pork from its northern Balkan neighbor Bulgaria due to outbreaks of African swine fever, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said on Friday.

Veterinary experts from the European Commission arrive in Bulgaria on July 23. The inspectors check whether the measures taken by our country against the spread of African swine fever are adequate and timely.

Outbreaks of the African swine fever have been found in more than ten regions in Bulgaria.

State of emergency has been declared on July 23 on the territory of Bulgaria's Rousse District (northern Bulgaria) in relation to the spread of African swine fever after the infection has entered one of the largest pig farms in the area. The business is pushing for stricter measures and state help to counteract the problem.

Some 17,000 pigs will be culled in an industrial farm in the village of Nikolovo, near Bulgaria's Rousse. An outbreak of African swine fever was found there on Saturday, reports BNT.

The culled animals will be buried in the region of the farm. Incoming and outgoing people and vehicles are subject to disinfection.