Russian authorities were scrambling to seize swine fever-infected sausages on Wednesday after getting test results from an eight-tonne shipment that had crossed the border from Mongolia. African swine fever, or ASF, has not been found to be dangerous for humans, but Russian authorities have regularly seized shipments of contaminated meat products. Russian authorities last month warned that swine fever was spreading around the world with “terrifying speed” and blamed other countries for not taking adequate measures against infected animals. Russia has reported nearly 1,400 outbreaks since 2007, most of them among wild pigs in the country’s vast forests. Governments elsewhere have ordered culls to contain the virus, but orders to kill wild pigs to prevent them from infecting farm animals have met with resistance from activists.

Source: The Guardian February 06, 2019 13:07 UTC