Classical swine fever

Representatives of the emergency veterinary team of the European Commission will be in Bulgaria from tomorrow to 25 July to assess the situation with the distribution of African swine fever in domestic and wild pigs in Bulgaria, announced the Bulgarian National Television by the European Commission.

The Agriculture Ministers of the Member States in the European Union (EU) discussed the situation with the African swine fever (ASF) disease in Bulgaria. This happened during yesterday's Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels. The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Desislava Taneva focuses on additional food control measures that cross the borders.

The Association of Industrial Swine Breeding and the Association of Swine Breeders convened a meeting with journalists on the occasion of the growing disease of African swine fever and the consequences for the sector.

According to official data, 99% of pigs in Bulgaria are growing in industrial pig farms.

The government has voted 3.7 million to fight African swine fever.

6 are the outbreaks of African swine fever in Bulgaria, and the authorities take immediate action to prevent the spread of the disease.

African swine fever is spreading, the transmission of the virus among feral and domestic pigs is very dangerous, Dr. Georgi Chobanov, Director of Animal Health and Welfare, and Feed Control, told Focus Radio in reference to the new outbreaks of the disease.

We must implement preventive measures very strictly, if we want to protect the country from an African swine fever epidemic, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Desislava Taneva told journalists in the parliament, in reference to the outbreak in Pleven, FOCUS News Agency reports.

Agriculture Minister Petre Daea considers that the future European animal health law, which will come into force in April 2021, will create new possibilities to adjust the fight against communicable diseases in animals and humans, playing also an important role in providing new and modern tools in the prevention and control of these diseases.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has received laboratory confirmation of new cases of African swine fever in three wild boars in Alfatar, Dobrich region, and Tervel, Silistra region.

Bulgaria has confirmed a new case of African swine fever in a wild boar near in the northeastern town of Devnya, the national food safety authority said on Wednesday.

African swine fever is a highly contagious disease that affects pigs and wild boar. It does not affect humans.

TWO cases of African swine fever have been identified in wild boars in Belgium - sparking fears of an ban on exports to non-EU countries which would come as a crippling blow to the pork industry.

And the news has also prompting neighbouring France to call for measures to prevent the disease spreading further.