ASF found in Nagorno-Karabakh

Several outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) have been recently reported in Nagorno-Karabakh – the territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to Tigran Arustamya, head of state veterinary and animal inspection at the Ministry of Agriculture of Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to Arustamya, the infected pigs for the last month have been revealed in the 15 communities which resulted that 694 pigs has been culled and buried.

“All sick pigs have been culled and buried at a depth of two meters or more. In those communities, where ASF has been detected, a temporary quarantine has been put in place, ” said the head of State Veterinary and Animal Inspection of the Republic.

“The government of Nagorno-Karabakh urgently developed a program to stop the further spread of the epidemic and the project will soon be submitted to Parliament,” the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Karabakh, Saron Bagdasarian, said. Still the program is not ready, currently authorities are trying to inform farmers about all risks connected with the ASF.

“We are currently talking to farmers in all Nagorno-Karabakh communities. We have stated to them that the spread of infection mainly occurs with the free movement of pigs. Since an ASF vaccine does not exist, the only way to protect our livestock is to keep them in isolation. Currently all healthy pigs in the republic are taken into account, and the owners have been instructed in any case to keep them under lock and key. Those citizens who will violate this order will be fined, ” said Arustamyan.