The results from the laboratory in Montpellier fully confirm the findings of the Bulgarian accredited laboratory that there is an outbreak of plague in the herds from Velingrad. The presence of antibodies in the blood indicates that the animals had already suffered from the disease. This was announced at a briefing by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) on December 16.
"We now have a protocol from Montpellier that confirms the results from our laboratory, meaning that the virus of small ruminant plague is present, and so are the antibodies," said representatives from BFSA.
Bulgarian Food Safety Agency identified an outbreak of sheep plague (PPR) in Velingrad
Experts from the European Commission are expected to visit Bulgaria on Wednesday morning to inspect the case of plague among sheep in Velingrad. For now, the ban on movement of animal in the Pazardzhik region remains in place. No one from BFSA has mentioned euthanasia of the animals yet, as they will wait for the European Commission experts before deciding on further measures.
The agency also commented that the issue has been subject to much speculation in recent weeks.
"As a member of the EU, Bulgaria is obligated to compaly with European legislation. Plague in small ruminants is a particularly dangerous disease, and measures should be taken to eliminate it. The steps to be followed—suspicions, actions upon suspicion, confirmation, announcement of the disease, and measures for eradication—are strictly outlined and have been followed step by step in this case," emphasized Dr. Boris Borisov, Director of Animal Health and Welfare at BFSA.
Veterinarians shared the timeline of their work on the farms in Velingrad.
Dr. Krasimir Kolev, a veterinarian from Plovdiv, explained that he had been contacted by the farm owners about a week before visiting. On November 10, after inspecting the farm, he found two dead sheep and one or two more that had died in the previous days. "We started with an autopsy, they were found to have a severe form of echinococcosis, bronchopneumonia, and intestinal inflammation," he said. He advised the owners to consult a veterinarian legally bound to the farm.
Dr. Alexander Kehayov, the farm's treating veterinarian, visited on November 11 and did not find evidence of infection at that time. However, on November 20, two more lambs died, and an autopsy revealed an enlarged liver and gallbladder. Dr. Kehayov reported the case to Dr. Marutsov, who suspected plague after reviewing photos sent by the owners. Blood samples were taken from the animals and sent for testing.
On November 20, the registered veterinarian reported the case to the official veterinarian, Dr. Semerdzhiev, who notified the BFSA in Pazardzhik. The first 20 samples were taken from the herds of Georgi Iliev and Violeta on November 20, and all five herds, which are considered one epidemiological unit, were tested.
The sampling process itself was done with disposable needles and consumables. The samples were tested at the National Reference Laboratory and came out positive. 40 samples were taken from 20 animals. On 21 November, more samples were taken from 25 animals - 50 samples from the herds of George, Dimitri and Rosa. On 22 November, we took 20 additional samples by another antibody testing method - they were positive, so the virus has passed through these herds. On November 25, the results were summarized, and the disease was officially declared. On November 26, there was a meeting in Velingrad with the owners of the animals, chaired by the caretaker Minister of Agriculture, Dr Georgi Tahov. He stressed that the decision to resample was his and said it was a precedent in the country. On November 27, additional samples were collected from 105 animals, totaling 315 samples, and they were sent to Montpellier under escort," said Dr Valentin Atanasov, deputy executive director of BABH.
BFSA emphasized that no one is blaming the farm owners, whose primary responsibility is the welfare of the animals. They stressed that self-treatment, especially with vaccines, is strictly prohibited.
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