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ASF: Continued Spread in Russia, Re-occurrence in South Africa

Russia has been dealing with African swine fever (ASF) in its swine herd since 2007 and the virus keeps marching across the country. This has prompted serious concerns about the prospect of the virus spreading into other Eastern European countries.

Now, a southern Russian farm had to slaughter all 30,736 of its pigs because of ASF, reports Bloomberg News. The pigs belonged to the Plemzavod Industrialny farm, located in the southern Russian Krasnodar region.

ASF was also reported in a major agricultural breeding plant located a few kilometers out of Timashevsk city. In that complex 98 pig deaths had been registered. According to the region’s veterinary services officials, pig deaths also were registered in several nearby private farms, and there is suspicion that the animals also died from ASF.

According to Nikolai Vlasov, Russia’s chief veterinary inspector, the ASF situation in the Russian Federation is “progressively getting worse.” It has has been discovered in 21 of Russia’s 83 regions so far, according to Rosselkhoznadzor data.

The virus has also re-occurred in South Africa. Recent reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) describe an outbreak of ASF at a farm in Mpumalanga province. Pigs were also found to be sick at an abattoir in Gauteng. There are no pigs left on the farm, and the abattoir is also empty.

A total of 80 pigs were found susceptible to the outbreak, out of which 35 cases were identified. A total of 28 deaths were recorded, and the remaining 52 animals were destroyed.

The source of the outbreak remains inconclusive. However, it has been discovered that the outbreak occurred outside South Africa's ASF control zone. The source of the outbreak is under investigation.

Sources: Pork Network [edited]

The Pig Site [edited]