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Ukraine culls 80,000 pigs amid African swine fever

Xinhua, September 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Some 80,000 pigs have been slaughtered in Ukraine since the beginning of the year to prevent the spread of African swine fever, which is sweeping across the country, First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv said on Wednesday.

"Whilst last year, a total of 57 cases of African swine fever were reported in Ukraine, in the first eight months of the current year, there were 108 cases," Kubiv was quoted as saying by local media.

In August alone, the virus was found on 24 farms in nine Ukrainian regions, he said, adding that the country's authorities are implementing a series of quarantine measures to halt the disease spread.

Since the start of the year, African swine fever has caused a direct loss of about 820,000 U.S. dollars to the Ukrainian farming sector, Kubiv said.

From January through August of 2016, Ukraine's pork exports have plunged 92.2 percent year-on-year to 1,523 tons due to the outbreak of the disease.

The African swine fever, a viral illness harmless to people but lethal to pigs, was first discovered in Ukraine in 2012. Endit