Penza, 26 January 2016. PenzaNews. African swine fever poses no danger to humans and causes mostly economic damages, said the Minister of Agriculture in the Penza region Andrei Burlakov during the briefing called after a possible outbreak of the ASF virus was detected in the region.

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“Humans are not affected by the virus in any way. This is most of all economic damages, which means losing pig livestock, being unable to breed pigs in the outbreak zone for a year. It must be disinfected, the livestock must be destroyed bloodlessly, then burned properly, and the ashes buried with required disinfectants, the used premises undergo three disinfection procedures, quarantined, with no livestock farming on the premises for a year,” he explained.

Andrei Burlakov also added that “that is the first time this plague comes to the Penza region.”

“Unfortunately, it did come. We think it will likely be confirmed, as possibility is very high,” he noted.

According to Andrei Burlakov, they are working hard to identify the outbreak vector.

“The usual vectors for the virus are food – we are investigating it, but the Federal Penitentiary Service rejects this possibility as the food remained the same. Another is infected pig products, which is the main version for now, as virus remains active even if pig meat is soused or cured – it deactivates only when subjected to heat over 70°C. So if, let’s say, infected salo or other pig products got into the region, that could have been the source. […] Another possibility is people, who got in touch – through clothes or something else,” the minister said.

He also mentioned the measures taken to prevent any contacts between the personnel working in colonies No. 8 and No. 4 to prevent any contact infections of the livestock on the farm located in the latter colony.

“We already took measures to maximally prevent any animal or bird infiltration to the colony No. 4. The Federal Penitentiary Service department management was informed of the measures, and we are working to possibly eliminate all such infractions,” Andrei Burlakov pointed out.