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Russia imposes temporary ban on import of meat products from Belarusian plant

The temporary ban was imposed on processed meat supplied by the Minsk meat processing factory after African Swine Fever genome was discovered in four out of five samples

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor imposed a temporary ban on imports of processed meat products from a plant in Belarus after discovering traces of African Swine Fever (ASF) in supplied goods.

The temporary ban was imposed on processed meat supplied by the Minsk meat processing factory after ASF genome was discovered in four out of five samples.

In August of 2013, Russia also introduced a temporary halt to imports of pork products from Belarus over the reported outbreak of ASF in Belarus. But from mid-October 2013, controls were lifted on three Belarusian enterprises and in January this year, on six more manufacturers from the country’s Brest region and major meat manufacturers in Belarusian Mogilyov region.

Last month Latvia, which borders on Belarus, announced that it expanded the earlier introduced ASF emergency state zone and extended its in-force period, which was due to expire on October 1, until January 1.

On July 2, Latvia imposed a state of emergency and introduced an emergency zone on July 2 over the ASF outbreaks in the eastern province of Latgale, which borders on Belarus and Russia as well.

ASF is a highly contagious notifiable disease in pigs caused by a virus. There is no vaccine against it and it can be stopped from spreading only through culling infected animals. The first African swine fever outbreak was registered in South Africa in 1903.