Local authorities in Poland fear for the worst in front of ASF spreading
Poland local authorities believe that the pork sector is heading towards an unprecedented crisis as the African swine fever outbreaks seems to multiply this year, reports Portal Spozywczy.
500 veterinary and action inspectors are missing in the field and the number of outbreaks has already reached 108, more than half all 212 detected in four years since the disease was first detected in the country.
This is a delicate moment for the pork segment as the processing facilities must import raw material to keep the production going. "If there is no raw material, meat factories will face a dilemma: will it be profitable to continue production thanks to meat import or shut down", resume the problem Aleksander Dargiewicz, director of the office of the National Union of Employers of Swine Producers.
Pork and beef processing facilities in Poland are responsible for more than 90,000 employees and the sector also comprise the transporters working in the field of feed and 130,000 farms.
Besides Poland, other European countries are facing the same problem: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia. ASF was also reported last week on wild boar population in Belgium, near to the French Border and governments in France, Spain and Germany have already taken strict measures to avoid the spreading of the disease.
China was also hit by the virus, with more than 15 outbreaks reported in one month and a half and the risk of the disease spreading through Asia is considerable, according to the latest Food and Agriculture Organization report.
One analysis presented this summer by a Polish scientist mentions the possibility for the disease to spread to Germany in less than four years. For now, there is no vaccine for ASF and the only measures recommended in case of an outbreak is culling down the animals infected and quarantine the areas affected.
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