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According to a report published by USDA'S Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN), in 2011, African swine fver (ASF) continued its tear throughout European Russia, from the Caucus Mountains to the Article Circle. According to a presentation by a Deputy Head of VPSS in late 2011, ASF was registered among domestic pigs in 36 stations in 11 regions while it was revealed among wild boars in 5 regions of the country. At the time of reporting, Volgograd, Nizhniy Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Tver, Murmansk, and Kursk regions had all registered their first-ever cases of ASF in 2011. VPSS specified the North-Caucasus Federal District and South Federal District as an endemic unfavorable zone for ASF and considered ASF detections in the other locations as single cases resulting from transportation of infectious materials outside the endemic zone.
Since the presentation, first-ever outbreaks have additionally been found in the regions of Voronezh, Ivanovo, Saratov, and Karelia. The outbreak in Ivanovo was nicknamed the “biological bomb.” According to the Deputy Head, the main reason for the wide spread of ASF is mismanagement by the local veterinary services during outbreaks, which are not following Ministry of Agriculture instructions, including:
- absent isolation of pigs at farms,
- lack of accounting for local livestock numbers and locations,
- delays in imposing quarantine,
- deficiency of veterinary drugs for stamping-out in the first quarantine zone, and
- improper disposal of carcasses.
The Deputy Head’s forecast for 2012 was very negative, indicating a new wave of ASF expansion would hit the center of European Russia. In February, VPSS established a new commission, which has since shut-down select Russian facilities found to be in violation with veterinary regulations.
Starting March 1, 2012, private households in the Krasnodar region were prohibited to raise more than three pigs for finishing as well as their access to wild animals and birds. Implementation of the new rules is likely to be difficult; however, the local authorities continue promising to help pork farmers develop alternative livestock production. According to official local statistics, 46 cases of ASF were recorded in the region during the previous four years – 91,000 thousand animals were destroyed and compensation to producers from the regional budget totaled RUR428 million ($14.3 million). In January 2012, 30,736 pigs were destroyed after ASF was found in a Kransnodar commercial herd. In February 2012, the Head of Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) estimated 240,000 pigs had been destroyed throughout Russia in the past three years.
Thursday March 8, 2012/ GAIN-USDA/ United States.
http://gain.fas.usda.gov
