A report by the EU Food and Veterinary office (FVO) published on 8 September says that Romania has not taken sufficient action to prevent cases of African swine fever.
An audit was conducted from 25 January to 2 February 2017 to assess how effectively the surveillance programme for African swine fever for the years 2015 and 2016 in domestic pigs and wild boars in Romania had been implemented. The experts had to evaluate if the measures in place were sufficient to achieve the objective of early detection of the disease.
Overall, “the report concludes that Romania does not yet apply many actions aimed at preventing African swine fever”, for example, with regard to wild boar population management and biosecurity in backyard holdings. Further, the measures are only applied on confirmation of disease, with a consequential delay in results. Although hunters are aware of the disease, “the poor passive surveillance programme” on wild boars does not make it likely that African swine fever will be detected at an early stage, the experts say. This will delay the detection of the disease and thus the implementation of control measures, increasing the risk for further spread into domestic pigs, particularly into backyard holdings.
The FVO is critical of the low level of biosecurity in many backyard holdings, which represent the most vulnerable point for introduction of infection in domestic pigs. “In particular, backyard holdings with sows are likely to play a role in spreading the infection locally”, the report says.
Fewer risks in commercial farms. The experts state that the good biosecurity measures and the controls in place in commercial farms “reduce the likelihood of introduction and spread of infection” there. However, the audit highlights the continued delays in laboratory turnaround time and the lack of passive surveillance in industrial commercial holdings which “would likely delay early detection in domestic pigs and increase the risk of spread of infection in this sector”. The report contains recommendations aimed at rectifying the shortcomings identified. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)