Komi farmers advised not to buy pigs due to outbreak of African swine fever

The Ministry of Agriculture of Komi recommends that farmers not buy pigs and, if possible, switch to alternative types of animal husbandry.

An extremely tense situation regarding African swine fever remains on the territory of the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of 2022, 67 cases of ASF have been registered in Russia (domestic pigs - 34, wild boars - 33). There are currently 25 active ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs.

This disease is not dangerous to humans, but poses a great threat to pig production. There is no cure for the disease and there is no vaccine for it. The disease is highly contagious and spreads not only by infected animals, but also through care items, water and feed. The death of pigs with ASF infection reaches 100%.

When a diagnosis of ASF is established in the focus of the disease and within a radius of up to 20 km from it, the removal of pigs and the destruction of meat and other products of slaughter of pigs is carried out.

In Komi in 2021, 2 ASF outbreaks were registered among domestic pigs in Syktyvkar and Syktyvdinsky district. In the course of measures to eliminate ASF outbreaks, 696 heads of pigs were seized from 32 owners.

Currently, there is a high risk of introducing ASF into the territory of the Komi Republic with live pigs, pig products and feed.

The regional Ministry of Agriculture strongly recommends to refrain from purchasing and keeping pigs.

If the farm cannot switch to alternative types of animal husbandry, then private owners and managers of agricultural enterprises should ensure strict compliance with the requirements of the Veterinary Rules for keeping pigs for the purpose of their reproduction, rearing and sale, approved by Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia dated October 21, 2020 No. 621, Veterinary Rules for the Implementation preventive, diagnostic, restrictive and other measures, the establishment and lifting of quarantine and other restrictions aimed at preventing the spread and eliminating foci of African swine fever, approved by order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia dated January 28, 2021 No. 37.

The list of rules necessary for strict compliance includes 11 items:

1. Keep pigs indoors, do not allow free range of pigs, their contact with other animals.

2. Regularly clean and disinfect the premises. Constantly use change of clothes, shoes, separate equipment for caring for pigs; the danger is visiting and caring for animals in everyday clothes and shoes, in which you could previously visit another farm.

3. Avoid feeding pigs with feed of animal origin and food waste without heat treatment (boiling) for at least 30 minutes after boiling, buy feed only of industrial production.

4. Do not allow visits to farms, livestock farmsteads by unauthorized persons.

5. Do not purchase and sell piglets and pigs in places of unauthorized trade, as well as without veterinary accompanying documents, register pigs in local administrations of districts and settlements.

6. Do not carry out house-to-house slaughter and sale of pork without veterinary pre-slaughter inspection of animals and veterinary and sanitary examination of meat and slaughter products by specialists of the state veterinary service.

7. Do not buy meat products in places of trade that are not established for these purposes by the local administration.

8. In the event of signs of illness in pigs or their sudden death, immediately contact the state veterinary institutions at the place of residence.

9. It is obligatory to provide the livestock of pigs for veterinary examination, vaccination (against classical swine fever, erysipelas) and other treatments.

10. Do not throw away animal carcasses, waste from their maintenance and processing to landfills, roadsides, dispose of and destroy biowaste only with the knowledge of state veterinary institutions in specially designated places determined by the administration of a rural settlement or cremators.

11. Do not process the meat of dead or forcedly slaughtered sick pigs - this is prohibited and may lead to further spread of the disease.

In cases of the appearance of signs of disease in pigs or a sudden mass death of pigs, it is necessary to immediately inform the district departments of the State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Republic of Komi" respvet.rkomi.ru/pages/territorialnye_podrazdeleniya, or call their hotline: 8 (8212) 28-64- 28, or to the Unified Dispatch Service (EDDS) of your urban district, municipal district, or the service for calling emergency operational services at a single number "112".

The most vulnerable pig farms for ASF are personal subsidiary farms, peasant (farm) farms and subsidiary farms of institutions for which it is not possible to comply with biological safety requirements. Such farms are recommended to re-profil their activities to alternative types of animal husbandry.

Farms that have made a decision to re-profile are entitled to apply for state support for the purchase and maintenance of young cattle, cows and heifers, as well as other types of support, including in the form of grants.