ANSVSA: 37 plague outbreaks in sheep and goat farms in Romania

The National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) announced, yesterday, through a press release, that in our country there are 37 active outbreaks of plague of small ruminants, with a total of 218,756 affected animals. Of these, the most outbreaks (34) are in Tulcea county, where 205,271 animals were affected, followed by Timiş with 12,500 animals affected by the respective disease and Constanţa with 985 small ruminants affected. ANSVSA claims to have acted in accordance with the law on the prevention and combating of plague of small ruminants (sheep and goats) in our country, but the reaction of the public institution comes almost three weeks after the appearance and evolution of outbreaks of plague of small ruminants and after Russia and Greece banned the import of sheep and goats from Romania.

In the cited document, ANSVSA officials show that a major risk of introduction and spread of the disease comes from the importation of sick animals, whose disease was acquired before entering the territory of Romania, or from the introduction of animals to the market without the necessary sanitary-veterinary documents.

The representatives of the public institution specify: "Illegal activities, such as clandestine transport of animals, endanger export efforts and can generate secondary outbreaks of the disease at a great distance from the original outbreak. ANSVSA inspectors constantly collaborate with the representatives of the competent institutions to identify and stop these irresponsible practices. The efforts of ANSVSA and animal breeders to open new export markets are threatened by these illegal activities. In the current epidemiological context, ANSVSA is acting to maintain sheep exports, renegotiating conditions with third countries and performing additional tests for export batches. ANSVSA laboratories work with an extended schedule to provide the necessary guarantees to the beneficiary countries, thus ensuring the continuity of commercial exchanges. (...) The institution is in permanent contact with animal breeders, transporters and exporters, collaborating to limit the spread of the disease and prevent damage in the livestock sector. The authority appreciates the initiative of sheep breeders to avoid the sale and purchase of animals between farms, the exchange of shepherds and visits between farms, as well as the immediate notification of the veterinarian and the county DSVSA in case of suspected disease. An important warning is not to believe false information that says the disease does not exist. ANSVSA condemns the dissemination of fake news that can undermine the authorities' efforts to manage disease outbreaks and promote the export of animals".

According to the sanitary-veterinary inspectors, since July 17, since the confirmation of the first plague outbreak in small ruminants, there have been export operations with sheep totaling 72,820 heads, of which 38,000 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and 34,820 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan .

We note that the scandal regarding this disease was triggered by Greek farmers who claimed to have imported sick animals from our country. According to an investigation carried out by the Greek television channel Alpha TV, the first deaths of sick animals in our country were found on July 11, but the authorities in Romania did not consider them as an effect of the plague of small ruminants.

The quoted source says: "The Romanian authorities initially attributed the death of the animals to an undetermined disease and to the excessive heat prevailing in those days. In this way they delayed informing the European Commission. Speaking to Alpha TV, representatives of the public sector veterinarians in Greece say that veterinarians in Romania knew but initially hid that there were cases of plague there and therefore precious time was lost. [...] When the animals arrived in Thessaly, beyond the certifications they already had when they left Romania, their health should also have been certified by the sanitary-veterinary services of the unit where they arrived, however, after as the veterinarians reported for Alpha TV, this stage of control in the unit essentially no longer takes place and is checked only when they arrive at the slaughterhouse, and this happens due to the lack of personnel from the sanitary-veterinary services".

Following this journalistic investigation, the Prosecutor's Office of the Larissa Criminal Court launched an emergency preliminary investigation to investigate how the infected animals were introduced into Greek territory. Moreover, Greece notified the European Commission about the existing outbreaks on its territory as early as July 16, while ANSVSA published the first data from our country only on July 20.

We also point out that ANSVSA requires the economic operators in Romania involved in the ruminant trade to respect instructions sent through the county DSVSA, to protect their herds of small ruminants. Any suspicion of illness must be notified as soon as possible to the county DSVSA. ANSVSA calls for the support of farmers in the sheep and goat sector, as well as citizens, to apply biosecurity measures, immediately notify the veterinary services of animal suspicions and comply with all the measures ordered by the authorities to prevent the spread of this disease on the territory of the country .

Plague of small ruminants is a serious viral disease that does not affect humans but affects small ruminants such as sheep and goats.

The disease is transmitted mainly by direct contact. Mortality in infected animals can reach 70%.