Skopje, 14 February 2024 (MIA) – The Food and Veterinary Agency made the decision to establish protection and supervision zones on Wednesday after cases of African swine fever (ASF) were registered in pigs in the village of Mralino in the Municipality of Ilinden. The disease was identified in an unregistered farm in the village, where all five pigs have died.

The Agency told MIA that they have established a protection zone of 3 kilometers around the hotspot and a supervision zone within a radius of 10 kilometers.

“The protection zone covers the villages of Mralino and Kadino in the Municipality of Ilinden, the village of Idrizovo in the Municipality of Gazi Baba, and the villages of Petrovec and Kjojlija in the Municipality of Petrovec. In the three-kilometer protection zone, measures are being taken to cull and safely dispose of all pigs in farms where the disease has been registered, as well as in all other farms where the presence of the disease cannot be excluded. Measures are being taken to clean and decontaminate the buildings, rooms, equipment and vehicles,” said the Agency.

In the 10-kilometer protection zone around the hotspot, measures are underway to carry out a census of the pigs, as well as clinical examinations, control over the implementation of biosecurity measures, registration and identification of the animals in all farms.

The Agency urged all farms to report any suspicions or signs of disease, as well as deaths, to the relevant veterinarian association or an official veterinarian.

African swine fever is a disease transmitted exclusively among pigs. It affects both domestic pigs and wild boars. The disease is not zoonotic and the virus doesn’t infect humans, they, however, can act as transmitters of the disease.