The deadly pig disease African swine fever (ASF) has spread from the Caucasus to Russia, and may go further into the European Union and as far east as China, Reuters quoted the U.N"s Food and Agriculture Organisation as saying today. "The danger is that ASF, which can not be transmitted to humans, could spread to other regions including the European Union countries, Eastern Europe, the Black Sea basin countries and, in the worst case scenario, to central Asia and even China, which has the largest pig population in the world," the FAO said in a statement. The viral disease was discovered several days ago in the small village of Mga in north-western Russia, the Russian animal and plant health body Rosselkhoznadzor said on its website www.fsvps.ru. It said the disease was found in 7 of 14 pigs held in the village, of which 7 died and 7 had to be killed. The disease spread to the village from the south of Russia, where it was first discovered in wild boars at the end of September. "Although we have known that the virus has been circulating in the Caucasus - in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - for several years now, eventually spreading to southern Russia, it is its sudden appearance far away near the Baltic coast that is worrying," said Juan Lubroth, FAO"s Chief Veterinary Officer. He said the Baltic Republics together with the Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria were directly threatened. "That means there could be possible incursions into the EU and also it could spread across Russia, including eastwards into Siberia and perhaps eventually China," he added. Russia"s Agricultural Minister Yelena Skrynnik said in a statement on the ministry"s website www.mcx.ru that she had ordered pigs be kept indoors at all farms, especially in the south of Russia, where ASF had been discovered in 25 locations. "As a result of negligence of some officials, direct losses in the pig breeding sector may amount to 25-30 billion roubles ($860 million-$1 billion), Skrynnik said. ASF is believed to have entered into the Caucasus through the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti, where garbage from a ship was taken to a dump where pigs would come to feed, the FAO said. There is currently no vaccine against ASF, which is usually eradicated by culling infected animals and strict movement control.
