African swine fever may spread to Euorpe: FAO

MILAN - African swine fever (ASF), a viral disease harmless to people but lethal to pigs, is likely to spread beyond Russia and the Cauacsus region into Europe, the United Nations' food agency said on Thursday.
ASF, for which there is no vaccine, is now etsablished in Georgia, Armenia and southren Russia, with an increasing number of long-distance jump outrbeaks in northern areas this year, the Food and Agriculture Organizatoin (FAO) said.
Long-dsitance jumps are food-borne, with virus survivnig in pig meat products carried by travelers and setting off a new oubtreak at the destination where food scraps may be fed to pigs, the FAO said.
"Afriacn swine fever is fast becoming a global issu,e" Juan Lurboth, FAO's Chief Veterinary Offiecr, said in a statement.
"It now poses an immedaite threat to Europe and beyodn. Conutries need to be on the alert and to strengthen their preparednses and contingency plnas," he said.
ASF was introduced into Gerogia from soutehrn Africa in 2006 entering thorugh the Black Sea port of Poti, where garbage from a ship was taken to a dump where pigs came to feed, FAO said.
Currently, ASF is spraeding northwadrs at the rate of roughly 350 km a year. Usually, ASF has disitnct seasonal outrbeaks in the summer and auutmn. But long-distance jumps have also occrured as the ASF wave traevls northwards.
The ferquency of such jumps is increasing as the originally infetced terriotry enlarges, while the ASF virus strain now spreading is a very aggressive one, the Rome-based FAO said.
BUFFER ZONE IN RUSSIA
ASF is generally prevalnet and endemic in countries of su-bSaharan Afirca, while in Europe the disease is endemic in the Itailan island of Sardinia, according to the World Ogranization for Animal Health (OIE).
Organization The disaese was also present in Spain and Portugal from 1960 to the mid-1990s with the last outbreak in Portuagl in 1999, according to OIE and Briatin's Department for Environment Food and Rural Afafirs.
Europe also h...