In the Vitebsk region, measures are being strengthened to prevent the spread of African swine fever
What is being undertaken in this regard in the Vitebsk region, "Vitichi" learned from the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Regional Executive Committee. As Sergey Boboed, Head of the Veterinary Department of the Committee, stated, as of March 1, there were 426 thousand pigs at pig breeding facilities in Vitebsk region, and over 31 thousand on private household plots. A headquarters has been established and is operating in the region to take emergency measures to prevent the spread and eradicate African swine fever (ASF) and other dangerous animal diseases. Biological safety issues are reviewed at its meetings quarterly. Specialists from the regional veterinary laboratory regularly conduct studies of objects for the presence of genetic material and antibodies of the ASF virus. They examine samples taken from pigs in public herds, pigs in the private sector, as well as from hunted wild boars.
African swine fever (ASF) is a particularly dangerous, highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, with a mortality rate that is typically 100 percent. There are neither medicines nor vaccines for it.
– Last year, outbreaks of this dangerous disease were recorded in Poland (1640 cases), Latvia (304), Ukraine (28), and the Russian Federation (271). In January-March of this year, ASF outbreaks have again been detected in countries bordering Belarus, – notes Sergey Valentinovich. – Therefore, a whole complex of preventive measures is being carried out in the region based on Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 758.
Work is being carried out in several directions: protection of the public herd and herds kept on private farms, and combating the main carrier of the virus – the wild boar, the population of which must be minimized (this decision was made at the republican level). Carriers can also include people working at pig complexes, blood-sucking insects, and ticks. All pig breeding facilities operate on a closed-type enterprise principle and are under the supervision of the veterinary service. Strict access control is ensured at the complexes, daily disinfection and washing of work clothes are carried out, employees regularly pass through the sanitary checkpoint, and measures are in place to combat harmful insects and rodents. Pigs are fed exclusively with pelleted compound feeds. Employees of pig breeding facilities are prohibited from keeping pigs on their own farms and from hunting.
Measures to combat the disease include detecting the infection, as well as eliminating the pig population in the focus, including healthy individuals, as was the case at the "Luchesa" pig complex, where an outbreak of African swine fever occurred in 2013.
Information for the public
If you decide to keep pigs on your farm, remember:
– Free-range keeping of animals is prohibited.
– Necessary sanitary and veterinary requirements must be observed in the shed.
-- Animals in the shed must be kept by species.
– Pigs must not be given feed that has not undergone heat treatment.
– Entry into the shed is allowed only in change clothes and shoes, after treating hands with an antiseptic, and a disinfection mat should be placed before the entrance.
-- One of the main signs of ASF is cyanosis of the skin and mucous membranes, decreased appetite, and a sharp increase in body temperature up to 41.5-42°C.
-- In case of the slightest suspicion of pig disease, a veterinarian should be called.
"Vitbichi".