Rosselkhoznadzor discussed with the European Commission the situation with the spread of African swine fever

On December 28, a meeting was held via videoconference with representatives of the European Commission for HEALTH and Food Safety (DG SANTE). ROSSELKHOZNADZOR was represented at the event by Deputy HEAD Konstantin Savenkov.

Rosselkhoznadzor expressed concern about the wide and intensive spread of African swine fever throughout the European Union. Of particular concern is the unique introduction of the virus to Italy, where in the 3 weeks that have passed since the first confirmed death of a wild boar from ASF, another 13 infected individuals were identified. At the same time, the distance from outbreaks in the provinces of Piedmont and Liguria to the nearest unfavorable zone is at least 900 km, which makes it important to establish the exact causes of what happened.

The reports presented on the EU information resources do not fully explain the factors contributing to the occurrence of ASF in Italy. Information about efforts to eliminate the outbreak and prevent further movement of the virus to Rosselkhoznadzor was not received from the Italian veterinary service.

In this regard, Konstantin Savenkov appealed to representatives of the European Commission with a request to send the results of the investigation to the department, up-to-date data on measures taken in the European Union to combat ASF.

According to the OIE, in 2021, 8.4 thousand outbreaks of African swine fever were recorded in the EU, of which 1.76 thousand in domestic pigs and 6.67 thousand in wild boars. As early as 2013, Russian experts predicted the introduction of ASF to Europe through the northern and southern vectors and the further spread of the disease.

According to the Rosselkhoznadzor , the situation will worsen, as ASF is steadily spreading deep into the EU, which raises relevant questions about the capabilities of veterinary services.

Given the risk of introducing the disease into RUSSIA with finished MEAT products supplied from the EU, Rosselkhoznadzor intends to conduct inspections in exporting countries of dry-cured products, which include pork, and also continue to conduct inspections of manufacturers of feed and feed additives for animals.

In connection with the severe ASF epizootic situation in the European Union and based on the unsatisfactory results of inspections of European feed production enterprises, which showed a lack of traceability of sources of raw materials of animal origin, as well as non-compliance with the necessary heat treatment of these raw materials, Rosselkhoznadzor requested detailed information from European colleagues on movement control , as well as the use of components containing pork in the production of feed.

Representatives of the European Commission noted that they are engaged in establishing the reasons for the introduction of ASF to Italy and will send the results of their investigation to the Rosselkhoznadzor. At the moment, only the absence of a connection between outbreaks in the continental part of Italy with the island of Sardinia, which is stationary for ASF, has been confirmed.

The European Commission confirmed the difficulty of controlling the disease, reported on the measures taken to contain its spread and provided a detailed presentation on the movement of the virus.

In conclusion, the parties agreed to adhere to the principle of openness and continue the dialogue on this topic and other problematic issues.