African swine fever epidemic hits Europe as thousands of pigs slaughtered
AFRICAN swine fever has hit one of the largest pig farms in Europe.
By Sam Webb
DailyStar.co.uk
25th August 2018
he virus has contaminated a farm in Romania with more than 135,000 pigs.
Health officials say water taken from the Danube river is behind the outbreak.
Around 120,000 pigs across eight large farms in the country have now been culled in a desperate bid to halt the spread of the disease.
Gicu Dragan, from the Bucharest Diagnostic and Animal Health Institute, told local media: “The Bucharest Diagnostic and Animal Health Institute confirmed the existence of the African swine fever virus at TEBU Consult, the second largest farm in Europe where there are 135,000 pigs.
“I sent the samples to the national reference laboratory on Friday morning and the results confirmed the existence of the virus, and on Monday we will go to the euthanasia of the pigs on this farm.”
He added: “I think the animals are affected by the Danube water, and the farms are supplied with water from the Danube.”
African swine fever is one of the most devastating diseases affecting pigs.
The disease is transmitted by ticks and direct contact between animals, and can also travel via contaminated food, animal feed and people moving from one place to another.
There is no vaccine, but it is not harmful to humans.
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