Romania confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever on a large pig farm in the western county of Timis, on Wednesday October 13.
It was also confirmed that 39,000 animals will be culled and that local authorities and the food safety agency were meeting up to agree on next steps, Reuters reported.
County prefect Mihai Ritivoiu confirmed the outbreak on Facebook, saying: “It is official, there is an outbreak in Timis. We must take measures to combat the spread of the disease. A priority is to protect two other farms, each with tens of thousands of pigs, located a few kilometres away.”
Romania has already reported hundreds of cases this year, including several large farms, as well as smallholdings and ‘backyard’ pigs.
New cases continue to be recorded in domestic pigs and wild boar in a number of European countries, with outbreaks in new parts of Germany and Italy causing particular concern.