ASF Virus in Russia Seen by Watchdog as a Threat to 50,000 Pigs

About 50,000 pigs are threatened by the deadly African Swine Fever after four outbreaks at farms in two days in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, the country’s food safety watchdog said.

Two ASF outbreaks were confirmed today on farms with 13,753 and 2,813 pigs respectively, the service, known as Rosselkhoznadzor, said on its website. Yesterday, the virus was found on farms with 2,000 and 2,071 pigs.

There are more than 49,500 pigs bred on industrial farms and private households in the affected area, according to Rosselkhoznadzor.

Another outbreak was registered today in a private yard in the Tver region in central Russia, north-west of Moscow, the service said.

ASF, a viral disease for which there is no vaccine, is deadly for pigs and harmless for humans, according to the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization.

Farm owners and veterinary officials should pay “extreme attention” to guards that work on farms because the virus may be spreading due to animal feed thefts, Nikolai Vlasov, Rosselkhoznadzor’s deputy head, said on the website.

About 500,000 pigs have died or been killed in ASF outbreaks in Russia since the virus was discovered in the country in 2007, Alexei Alekseenko, Rosselkhoznadzor’s spokesman, said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Deane at jdeane3@bloomberg.net