Ukraine bans Belarus pork following ASF outbreak
Ukraine has temporarily banned pork imports from Belarus as from May 7, as an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) is suspected in Belarus.
The Ukrainian State Veterinary and Phytosanitary Service said in a statement that the decision was made having considered media reports about the death of pigs in Baranovichi region, in Brest province, western Belarus.
Reports on the Belarus case state that quite a number of pigs have been found dead on a pig farm called ‘Vostocni’. Samples of the deceased pigs have been taken to labs for analysis. The Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor will help the Belarusian veterinary services to sort out what might have been the cause of death.
A representative of the Belarus veterinary service said, “It is still not clear whether the pigs died because of ASF or not, but we will determine that in coming days.”
Currently a strict quarantine is applied around the enterprise.
The Belarus Interfax-West News Agency, however, informed that the Department of Veterinary and Food Control of the Belarusian Ministry of Agriculture has refuted the speculations around the deaths in Baranovichi region. The officials say that the results of the laboratory studies confirm this.
The last time Ukraine imposed a ban on pork imports from Belarus was in March last year.
So far, only one case of ASF has been reported west of Russia, when an isolated case was found in Ukraine last August. It was quickly destroyed and no further cases have been detected in Ukraine so far.
