The Food and Veterinary Service (PVD) has detected an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) at the Baltic Pork farm in Laubere parish, Ogre municipality, where 20,000 pigs are kept, LETA was informed by the PVD.

All pigs on the farm will be culled to contain the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease. This is the eighth ASF outbreak in domestic pigs in Latvia.

A quarantine zone has been established around the affected farm. The PVD will step up checks on pig health and compliance with biosecurity requirements at other farms in the area. The quarantine also includes restrictions on the movement of pigs and pig products.

The service stresses that wild boar pose the greatest threat to the health of domestic pigs. Latvia’s wild boar population has been recovering rapidly, and the virus is spreading extensively among young wild boars.

ASF was first detected in Latvia in June 2014 near the border with Belarus.

African Swine Fever is an extremely dangerous and highly contagious viral infection affecting pigs. If a single infected pig is found on a farm, all pigs at that farm must be culled, resulting in major losses for farmers.

Baltic Pork posted a turnover of EUR 13.585 million last year, down 4.7 percent from the previous year, while profit fell 14.4 percent to EUR 2.896 million.

Baltic Pork was established in 2000 and has a share capital of EUR 2.505 million. The company is owned by Norway’s Mork Engebretsen Invest (71.57 percent) and SE Agro Holding (28.43 percent).

Source: BNS

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