Just days after African swine fever was confirmed for the first time in Bosnia-Herzegovina, neighbouring Croatia has become the latest country to report its first case of the virus.
The Croatian outbreaks have been recorded in two outdoor pig farms, with 48 pigs between them, near Posavski Podgajac in Vukovar-Srijem County, in the eastern parts of the country, close to the Bosnia border and were confirmed by the agriculture ministry on June 26. Disease is suspected at another two locations in the nearby area, with tests on the suspected cases are currently being undertaken.
The Croatian veterinary institute has ordered various measures to control the outbreak, including restrictions on pigs movement, culling of pigs on farms and assessing potential further spread. The Ministry of Agriculture and the State Inspectorate said it would do everything in order to eradicate ASF from the infected area as soon as possible and to prevent its further spread, but said the human factor also plays a major role in its spread, the National Hog Farmer reports.
The Croatian outbreaks were initially discovered the day after fellow Balkans country Bosnia-Herzegovina confirmed its first case on June 22 one pig on a farm near Bijeljina in the north east of the country, just a few miles away.
The outbreaks are close to the border with Serbia, which recorded 107 ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs last year, making it the most affected non-EU country, and reported 28 outbreaks in domestics pigs between mid-April and mid-May this year, all on backyard premises with up to 15 pigs. There were also six cases in wild boar in Serbia.