NEDIMOVIC: No new cases of African swine fever

There are no new cases of African swine fever in Serbia, while the human element is responsible for all the previous instances , said The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy said on Thursday after meeting the representatives of Pig Breeders Association whose members farm about a fifth of the total number of pigs in Serbia.

--Fortunately, there aren't any new suspicions about the fever since we have been able to solve the issue in the microspace for now, Nedimovic said in Doroslov.

He added that the human factor was most likely responsible for the occurrence of the disease because no changes were seen in the population of wild boars in Serbia.

– Small households are the most threatened because of the poor bio-security measures, the chances of passing to larger farms are minimal because measures are being implemented and the human factor is not contributing, the minister said, noting that Serbia would fight this disease as well as it has previously dealt with much more serious illnesses.

He added that the veterinarians are already on-site and as many veterinarians as possible would be available at all times. Nedimovic stressed the importance of preventive measures implementation and as well as noticing the symptoms on time.

– Everyone who has a deceased animal or one displaying the symptoms that has to be euthanized will be properly compensation in accordance with the market principles, the minister said.

Pig Breeders Association has 19 members who farm 600,000 grower pigs in total, which is the fifth of the total pig production in Serbia.

– All farms have higher bio-security measures now in place, because you know that the government will recompense the farmer in case of disease or euthanasia but what are we going to do if a farm closes, the member of the Pig Breeders Association Managing Board, Milan Catic from Doza Djerdj company in Backa Topola and added they employ between 30 and 160 people on average.

He confirmed that there is an attempt to lower the prices and said that butcher excuse it with decrease in exports but Serbia exported little anyway and he hadn't dismissed the possibility of price variating in future.

According to the report, other topics in the meeting with the minister included the change of bio-security system and the system of support for stock-farming in Serbia.

Hollo, a large pig farming company in this area, was the host of the meeting in Doroslov.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Ninistry of Agriculture

Forestry and Water Economy

Doza Djedj in Backa Topola

Hollo

Pig Breeders Association

Branislav Nedimovic

Milan Catic

swine fever

african swine fever

bio-security measures

pig farms

grower pigs