Weekly Overview: African Swine Fever Reaches Moldova
GLOBAL - Moldova has now confirmed its first outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF). The outbreaks were reported on two backyard pig farms in Donduseni.These farms are located in northern Moldova, close to the border with Ukraine.
Of the 13 pigs susceptible, 11 cases were reported. The outbreaks are thought to have been caused by swill feeding.
Following the earlier suspicion of the outbreak, the Romanian National Newspaper reported that Romania would ban imports of animal products from Moldova and Ukraine in order to prevent the spread of ASF into the country.
New ASF outbreaks were also confirmed this week on pig farms in Poland and South Africa.
In other disease news, Senecavirus A has been confirmed in Ontario, Canada. The finding came after US authorities turned away at least eight truckloads of pigs which apparently showed signs of the disease (formerly called Seneca Valley Virus).
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is now testing all swine at federal processing plants that are symptomatic.
Also in the news this week, the AHDB reported that, as expected, Russia has appealed against the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) judgement that its ban on imports of EU pig meat products was against WTO rules.
Appeals can take up to three months to complete. If the original judgement is upheld, Russia will have to remove the ban within a ‘reasonable period of time’ or face retaliatory measures.