Romania has confirmed an outbreak of African Swine Fever at a large pig farm in the western county of Timis and that 39,000 animals will be culled, the county prefect said on Wednesday.
The fever affecting pigs and wild boar has spread across Eastern Europe in recent years. It does not affect humans.
“It is official, there is an outbreak in Timis,” county prefect Mihai Ritivoiu said on Facebook, adding that local authorities and the food safety agency were meeting to agree what steps to take next.
“We must take measures to combat the spread of the disease. A priority is to protect two other farms, each with tens of thousands of pigs, located a few kilometres away.”
Hundreds of cases were reported in Romania and several other European Union states this year among pigs kept in backyards and smallholdings as well as several large private farms.
Outbreaks were also detected recently in Germany and Italy.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie Editing by David Goodman )
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