Romania is again battling a swine fever outbreak. So far over 400 infected spots have been discovered in half the counties of Romania and 400,000 pigs have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease.
Swine fever is spread by wild boars and Romanian authorities have ordered the shooting of all animals in some regions. Hunting associations, however, say the task is an impossible one.
“This is clearly impossible! A small group of five hunters cannot possibly kill a pack of 40 boars”, the head of the Galați county hunting association said.
Romanian agriculture minister Petre Daea said that Romanian veterinary authorities are in close contact with their counterparts in Vietnam, which has developed a vaccine that seems to be working.
Romania had another swine fever outbreak last year and just a few days ago Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov blamed Romanian tourists for spreading the disease in their country.
Meanwhile swine fever had also infected most of the wild boar population of Slovakia.
Title image: Swine fever alert in Romania (Euronews caption)
