A strengthening of "the sanitary cordon on animals and meat leaving the areas infected with African swine fever (ASF) in northern Italy" so that the virus does not spread again in Sardinia .
This is what the president of Confagricoltura Sardegna, Paolo Mele , asks in an appeal to the national government, underlining how «the epidemiological picture of these last few days, with the new outbreaks between Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, must lead the national animal health task force at maximum alert levels ."
«The checks must be carried out immediately and well – specifies Mele – especially where the terrible swine virus is spreading and not just on a random basis in our ports and airports, where tens of thousands of passengers pass through today, making it almost impossible for the checks to be successful health check points".
Mele then recalled how Sardinia only freed itself from forty years of disease in 2019, and after a series of very strict restrictions and eradication policies. Since 1978, in fact, the island has been plagued by ASF genotype 1 in pigs and wild boars, while for some years, in a good part of central-eastern Europe, Asia and in eight regions of the peninsula, it has spread among domestic and wild animals. genotype 2: much more aggressive and virulent than the first variant.
In the last ten days there have been eight outbreaks recorded on farms in northern Italy , as are the same number of regions where the disease is found : Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania and Calabria.
«If on the one hand – continued Mele – it is essential to contain the virus in the affected areas, it is equally important to launch training and information campaigns for veterinarians and farmers . In fact, one must have a good understanding of the disease and all the good biosafety practices necessary to avoid the circulation of ASF and therefore contain its spread in the countryside and on farms."
«At the same time - the conclusion - coordinated veterinary action on a national basis and with the territories infected or not yet affected by the disease is essential. These are the fundamental measures to limit the risk of having African swine fever return to Sardinia."
(Unioneonline/vl)