State of emergency declared in Silistra because of African Swine Fever

From July 31 to Monday, August 5, a state of emergency was declared in the Northern Bulgarian region of Silistra because of a confirmed case of African Swine Fever in a pig-breeding farm in the village of Popina. The Regional Food Safety Directorate will organize a 12-hour inspection at slaughterhouses in Dulovo, Tutrakan and Sitovo in the area. At the border crossing with Romania, vehicles are disinfected and checked for illegal meat transport.

Some 17,000 pigs from the industrial farm in Popina will be culled. The site for the burial of the carcasses has been identified.

The mayor of Popina, Svetla Udreva, said that there was no risk for the groundwater to be infected because the euthanised animals were buried high, with no access to the areas for the abstraction of drinking water.

There is no concern among the residents of the nearby villages as they have implemented the containment measures.