© Meat Trade News
Currently in the Krasnodar region, Russia veterinary
services culled pigs at private farms.
According to official data, for the first nine months of 2012, in total 500,000
pigs were slaughtered in order to stop the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF).
Compared with the level in 2010 the number of pigs in the
region decreased threefold. This year 160,000 pigs were culled as a result of
outbreaks of ASF.
Their carcasses were burned in specially designated areas
away from the pig farms.
Key problem
Russia's chief sanitary inspector, Gennady Onishchenko,
recently said that the spread of ASF still can not be stopped in part because
it is not dangerous for humans, and as the result that farmers use to sell
contaminated pork on the market and hide facts of outbreaks of the disease.
"People do not suffer from African Swine Fever. And
therefore there is no major concern regarding it. Therefore, since 2007, when ASF
was first registered in the Krasnodar region, the fight against it completely
failed.
If we buy the infected meat, eat it, we do not get sick, but
the virus can be brought to the farm, can get in crop production – and soon the
virus will circulate everywhere," he said.
Guilty verdicts
Meanwhile, in the regions first guilty verdicts were given
to officials and heads of veterinary services. The chief veterinarian of
Timashevsky District of the region Konstantin Kunenko was found guilty under
part 1 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code ("Negligence, involving a
substantial violation of the rights and legitimate interests of the
State") and sentenced to a fine of 120,000 rubles (US$ 4,000) - almost a
year's salary received by veterinarians in Russia.
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