Latvian government struggles with Classical Swine Fever
In response to an outbreak of Classical Swine Fever the Latvian government is considering the allocation of additional funds to the Ministry of Agriculture in the amount of 165,110 lats (US$ 307,100) to prevent the possible spread of the disease across the country.
The money will go to cover the costs of all veterinary measures and to resume the vaccination of wild boars.
It is reported that out of this money about 43,557 lats (US$ 81,000) will be allocated to the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS), while another 121 553 lats (US$ 226,100) will go to the Institute of Biological Studies – Bior. The government plans to spend 7000 lats (US$ 13,000) to pay the inspectors of FVS for extra work, while the students of the Latvian Agricultural Universities involved in control and prevention activities will be paid a total of 1900 lats (US$ 3,534) (15 lat (US$ 28) per day of work).
Some additional amounts of money will be allocated as compensation for farmers. It is already known that farmers who had to score their pigs because of infection or destroy meat or meat products due to the same reason will receive some funds from the state. Per one fattening sow the government will pay 120 lats (US$ 223), for one fattening pig- 100 lats (US$ 186) – and another 25 lats (US$ 46) per one piglet. However, the farmers will not receive any recovery for lost profits, and all claims for compensation can be considered only if the farm has been operated officially and was registered in the appropriate way.
In order to prevent the spread of infection in the wild population, there are also plans to start vaccinating the wild boars from the beginning of next year. As preventive measures has to be agreed with the European Commission, the final decision on this issue will be resolved with the arrival of its inspectors. According to official estimations, the cost of one vaccine will be about 0.6 lat (US$ 1.1) so in general the vaccination program can also be very expensive.
