No danger of African swine fever in Azerbaijan

"Azerbaijan imposed ban on pork import from these areas, when African swine fever was revealed there," Spokesman to the Azerbaijani State Veterinary Service under the Agriculture Ministry Yolchu Khanvali said.  

The Russia veterinary laboratory's experts have confirmed African swine fever in the Rostov region of the country. The virus was revealed in 12 villages inKamenskoe, Konstantinovski, October, Tarasovski and Dubovsky.

Khanveli said the ban on pork imports from areas is valid for three years and the term may be extended in case of re-identification.

Khanveli said Azerbaijan imports pork and pork fat just from Europe, in particular, from the Netherlands and Denmark.

"Pork and pork fat are used mainly for production of sausage and meat products. There is no great demand for this kind of meat for religious reasons in Azerbaijan," Khanveli added.

The Service appealed to the International Epizootics Office for inclusion of Azerbaijan in the list of countries with stable epizootic situation in 2009, he noted.

"The veterinary service submitted blood samples of pigs from certain regions of the country to the laboratory of the Bureau and the issue of inclusion of Azerbaijan in this list should be resolved in the near future," Khanveli said.

There are more than 8,000 pigs in Azerbaijan due to low demand for pork.


/Trend/