5th FMD Outbreak Discovered in Southeast Bulgaria in 3 Weeks

Health | April 4, 2011, Monday // 17:07|  views

Hundreds of domestic animals are to be slaughtered in southeast Bulgaria over the latest outbreak of FMD. Photo by BGNES

Domestic livestock infected with food-and-mouth disease has been discovered in a fifth village in Southeastern Bulgaria in less than three weeks.

Veterinary units of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency carrying out routine inspections discovered Monday cases of FMD among domestic animals in the village of Bliznak, Malko Tarnovo Municipality.

The village of Bliznak is located near the village of Granichar where FMD was discovered recently some 10 km away from the border with Turkey.

A total of 22 cows, 63 buffaloes, 145 sheep, 109 goats, and 12 pigs, owned by a total of nine persons were found to be infected, and will be put to death in the village, while the owners will be compensated.

After 12 years without FMD cases, in late December all throughout February, Bulgaria saw three outbreaks of FMD originally brought into Bulgaria by a wild boar from Turkey. After several hundred domestic animals were destroyed and a number local and EC-sanctioned measures were introduced, the authorities gained the upper hand.

The first of the new FMD outbreaks was detected on March 20, 2011, in three more villages in the southeastern Bulgarian Strandzha mountain, a day before the European Commission was expected to lift the measures, imposed on the Burgas District.

The new outbreak was found at a private farm near the village of Kirovo, close to the border with Turkey. In the next few days, FMD was also found in sheep from various villages in the poor and sparsely populated region - Goliamo Bukovo, Fakia and Momina Tsarkva near the town of Sredets.

Last week Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov announced in Parliament that the Borisov Cabinet is going to go ahead with the plans to restore some of the Cold War era fences along the Bulgarian-Turkish border in order to prevent wild animals infected with FMD from trespassing into Bulgaria and infecting the domestic livestock.

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Tags: food safety agency, livestock farmers, farmers, livestock, compensations, turkey, Burgas, foot-and-mouth disease, Agriculture Ministry, fmd, Southeast Bulgaria

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