Rublenita village of Soroca district will be in quarantine for 60 days owing to the African swine fever confirmed there by specialists of the National Food Safety Agency. The Agency’s vice director general Vsevolod Stamati told a news conference the virus was allegedly brought from Ukraine, where there are 210 hotbeds of African swine fever, IPN reports.

Vsevolod Stamati said the hotbed in Moldova was identified in Rublenita on March 10 and sanitary restrictions were imposed on March 11. Based on a decision by the head of Soroca district, the area was officially declared unfavorable.

Currently, over 3,000 pigs are raised in Rublenita, which almost fully supplies Soroca district with pork. There are 17 farms in Soroca district, which breed about 2,500 pigs, while over 17,000 pigs are raised in the private sector.

To stop the spread of the virus, sanitary filters were set up at three entrances to Moldova. Vsevolod Stamati said despite the fact that there was strict control over the import of meat on the border with Ukraine, the virus was yet brought in through parcels of passengers.

Veterinarians will daily examine the farms and persons who raise pigs to determine the state of health of the animals and other cases of morbidity or mortality. The owners must report any case of slaughtering. The necessary disinfection measures were taken in Rublenita. The infected animals were burned and buried.

The Moldovan authorities informed the European authorities and the authorities of the neighboring states about the confirmation of the hotbed of African swine fever in Moldova.

 More than 500,000 pigs are raised in Moldova. The disease is not dangerous for humans.