Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 March /corr. Trend S.Babayeva / The State Veterinary Service at the Azerbaijani Agricultural Ministry abolished the quarantine imposed on the village of Nij in the Gabala region of Azerbaijan in because African Swine Fever was found there.
The State Veterinary Service at the Azerbaijani Agricultural Ministry placed Nij under quarantine on 28 January due to the African Swine Fever virus, being reported for the first time in Azerbaijan.
Before discovery of the virus, the number of pigs equaled 4,700. All of them have been destroyed. The residents of the village can re-establish their swine breeding only after six months from the day of abolishing the quarantine.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is an expanding devastating viral disease currently threatening the pig industry worldwide. The virus is an icosahedral cytoplasmic deoxyribovirus (ICDV) of the Asfarviridae family. It is an arbovirus (transmitted by ticks) and is the only arbovirus that contains DNA. Wild pigs of Africa, mainly the warthog and bushpig, are the original vertebrate hosts of ASF. Domestic pigs are infected by ticks ( Ornithodoros moubata) or by direct contact with wild pigs. Transstadial and transovarian infections occur in ticks. Recently, ASF caused high morbidity and mortality in domestic pigs in Nigeria and other West African countries previously known to be free of the disease. No protective vaccination has been discovered; hence, a slaughter policy with adequate compensation, strict quarantine of pigs and their products at borders are necessary to stop the current outbreaks of ASF in Africa, particularly in West Africa.
Pig-breeding is carried out in Gabala, Zagatala, Shaki, Balakan and Ganja regions and districts of Baku.
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