MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

African swine fever out of control in areas of Russia, admit officials

Pig enterprises in Volgograd region do not comply with basic sanitary and epidemiological requirements

The outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) has recently been reported at a hunting farm in Zamurovskoe, Volgograd region in the south of Russia, according to the representatives of the Regional Office of Rosselkhoznadzor.

“At the Volgograd Regional Veterinary Laboratory during the research of samples of pathological material selected from the eight dead pigs from the hunting farm, the genetic material of ASF has been found,” an official statement said.

The samples of pathological material have been sent at the All-Russian Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology to confirm the diagnosis.

According to experts, local pig enterprises in the Volgograd region are not only unprepared to deal with the ASF - they simply do not comply with basic sanitary and epidemiological requirements.

In order to prevent the spread of the ASF virus the group of specialists organised by the Rosselkhoznadzor recently carried out checks at nearby farms.

To date, nine enterprises have been checked, and 8 of them have been ordered to close because of the flagrant violations of safety regulations.

“Even if they do not fence their territory properly: there is often no any sanitary isolation, and the production area is full of rats.

“This is mostly happens because of blatant negligence and incompetence of the managers and individual employees. Lawlessness and irresponsibility, which, I believe, must be assessed and controled by the police,” said the specialists group leader Shamil Vakh. (Framing News daily).