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Latvia reports fresh outbreak of African swine fever in domestic pigs

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first cases of African swine fever (ASF) in domestic pigs this year have been found in the district of Dubna in the southeastern Latvian municipality of Daugavpils, the Latvian food and veterinary authority said Tuesday.

The Food and Veterinary Service's spokeswoman Anna Joffe said 18 pigs at a small farm in Dubna had tested positive for the ASF virus. It is thought that the animals got infected after they were fed fresh grass.

As among the necessary quarantine measures to prevent the disease from spreading taken by the authorities, a 3-km protection zone and a 10-km monitoring zone have been set up around the affected pig farm.

Restrictions also have been imposed on animal transportation in the quarantine zones, and the Food and Veterinary Service's inspectors will examine all pig farms in the protection and monitoring zones.

ASF was last found in domestic pigs in Latvia in September 2014. Altogether, 72 cases of ASF in domestic pigs were reported between June 26 and Sept. 17, 2014, and 574 pigs were culled to stop the outbreak.

African swine fever is an extremely dangerous and contagious virus infection affecting pigs. Enditem