African Swine Fever Virus Expected To Spread To Germany, Southeast Asia - Russian Watchdog

Head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergey Dankvert said Saturday that the African swine fever (ASF) virus may spread in 2019 to France, Germany and Southeast Asian countries

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) Head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergey Dankvert said Saturday that the African swine fever (ASF) virus may spread in 2019 to France, Germany and Southeast Asian countries.

"This year we expect spreading of the ASF in France and Germany. And Southeast Asia, there will be very serious consequences, especially for Thailand, Vietnam and other countries, including the Philippines, there is also pig farming there," Dankvert said on the sidelines of Berlin International Green Week.

Dankvert said that Rosselkhoznadzor held meetings with representatives of the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Italy to discuss the issue of the ASF spreading.

The head of the service also stressed that the virus spreading was uncontrolled, as outbreaks in China and Mongolia were not foreseen.

China's first outbreak of the ASF was registered earlier in August at a farm in Shenyang in the country's northeastern province of Liaoning. After that several cases of the ASF were registered in eastern and northeastern China. In January, the virus emerged in northern Mongolia.

The ASF is a deadly and highly contagious disease, which infects pigs, but it does not affect humans or other animals. However, no vaccine is yet available to stop its spread.