Thousands of pigs have been culled in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia June due to African swine fever outbreaks, with governments under pressure to do more to compensate farmers for their losses.
The Sarajevo Times reports more than 15,000 pigs have been euthanised in the area of Bijeljina, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the disease spreads rapidly there.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management has paid out more than two million marks (£880,000) in support for the ASF measures in place, but the local disease crisis centre has sent a request for additional funds ‘as soon as possible, because the funds allocated so far have not been may be sufficient to fight this disease’, the reports says.
Reuters reports that about 3,000 pigs have also been slaughtered due to ASF in Croatia, where pig breeders fear the final figure may be much higher if government measures also requiring the cull of healthy animals in affected farms are to be obeyed.
On July 19, the European Commission said Croatia must ensure that pigs from the areas affected are not authorised for movement to other EU member states and to third countries.
Serbia has culled about 18,000 pigs so far this year, the agriculture ministry said. The disease has so far affected 1,068 farms in 32 out of 174 municipalities since the country reported the first case in 2019, the report adds.
Reuters reported that officials from veterinary agencies of the three countries met in Bosnia on Thursday to discuss the problem and agreed to jointly ask for financial aid from the European Commission and the World Heath Organisation to help farmers.
The Croatian government has agreed a 7.5 million euro-worth financial package to compensate the losses to the pig breeders.
China banned all imports of pigs and wild boars from Bosnia and Croatia on July 10 as a result of the outbreaks there.