Unfortunately, outbreaks of African swine fever in Kalyta PJSC (Kyiv region) and Lukull meat processing plant in Poltava region weren’t the last in commercial pig production sector. August, 18th the information about ASF at Agrofirma Kozatska, LLC in Sumy region appeared. This farm had lost almost 300 pigs. But the outbreak was localize the quickest possible and had no consequences.
Two more cases happened in backyard farms in Rivne (September, 4th in Budymlia village, 3 pigs died) and Chernigiv (September, 8th in Maksymivka village, 6 pigs died) regions. These territories covered by quarantine zone, as well as Kyiv, Sumy and Poltava regions.
But, nevertheless, at the present moment the dynamics of disease spread has greatly slowed down, comparing with the beginning-mid August. The broad informational campaign, launched by The Veterinary watchdog and Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine was promotive of it.
The fight against ASF has activated all possible forces and capacities:
- Till the end of the year, the State Forest Resources Agency have to depopulate 35 thousands of wild boars in near-border regions and quarantine zones to lower the ASF-spread caoability.
- Ukraine and its neighboring countries determine the cooperation rules in the context of ASF. So, as for Belarus, the trade will conduct on the principle of regionalization.
- After ASF detection in Kalyta, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine canceled the moratorium on pig farm inspections. Now specialists of Veterinary watchdog can audit farms and give pieces of advice concerning biosecurity improvement.
But, despite all measures, the Ministry of agrarian police and food is bothered that the fight against the disease will delay up to 2017.
National FAO experts’ forecasts
At the present moment, five regions of Ukraine are considered as troubled ones: Chernigiv, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava and Rivne. But other parts of the country are under the thread of disease spread. These are Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Kirovograd regions, as the citizens of Central Ukraine grow more pigs than in Northern part. The ASF spread southward and westward would be a catastrophe because thousands of pig farms would fail to zone of epizootic trouble.
The situation is complicated by disease diffusion into wild fauna in Polissia. ASF is probably engrained in Sumy and Poltava regions, and its slow spread is the question of time.
Thus there are all conditions for formation the mixed cycle of virus transfer (from wild pigs to domestic and vice versa), especially in central and western parts of Ukraine. That’s why, preventive and control measures concerning ASF have to be complex.
PigUA.info