41 cases of African plague have been registered in Ukraine since the beginning of the year

Submitted by bashun on Wed, 03/28/2018 - 11:17

Since the beginning of the year, 41 cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been reported in Ukraine, with the average number of diseases among domestic pigs has declined. This was said by the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Volodymyr Lapa in an interview with Biz.Censor, АgroРolit.com reports.

Over the past 5 years, Ukraine registered more than 300 cases of ASF, while increasing funding for anti-epizootic activities in 2018 led to a reduction in the number of cases.

According to Volodymyr Lapa, it was possible to increase the detection of the number of ASF outbreaks in wildlife, which reduced the likelihood of the virus entering its sector. However, the threat level continues to be high.

"Forty-one cases of ASF were recorded in 2018: 14 - domestic pigs, 4 infected objects, others - wild fauna. The number of diseases among domestic pigs decreased, this is a great preventive work and personal experience. People did not take the threat so seriously, until they face it themselves ... Thanks to active monitoring, it was possible to increase the detection of African outbreaks in wildlife. The more we detect the virus in the wild fauna, the less likely it is to enter the sector. Disease statistics has decreased, but the threat level remains extremely high, "- he said.

According to Lapa, the bill on increasing fines for the spread of the virus has already been processed. The document is being prepared for submission to the Cabinet.

"There was a case when a person went into the forest and illegally discovered a wild boar outside the time frame of the hunting season, then left the rest to feed the domestic pigs, and the boar was sick, and as a consequence, the quarantine was imposed on the entire settlement, and the penalty is from 5 to 8 tax-exempt minimum. It's 170 UAH... like two kilograms of meat, it's not serious, " says Lapa.

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