In Russia, pigs are being culled en masse due to an outbreak of an unknown disease
In the Tyumen Region of the Russian Federation, pigs are being seized and destroyed en masse from private farm owners. Local authorities attribute this to an outbreak of an “extremely dangerous disease,” but the regional veterinary office refused to disclose the diagnosis, citing limited access to this information.
Farmers suspect that African swine fever is the cause. The situation is most critical in the Golyshmanovsky District, where the first cases were detected in early August—sanitary checkpoints manned by police have been set up there, and the transport of pork has been banned.
Farmers face fines of up to 35,000 rubles for refusing to hand over their animals. Farmers complain that they are losing their sole source of livelihood amid a lack of work, and the authorities have not disclosed the amount of the promised compensation. Similar cases of mass culling of livestock have already been reported this year in other regions of the Russian Federation, particularly in the Novosibirsk Oblast.
This was reported by 72.ru.
Siberian farmers have lost approximately $20 million due to the mass culling of cows. Analysts estimate that up to 90,000 animals have been culled in villages since February.
It should be noted that the actual poverty rate in Russia may be significantly higher than official figures and could be approaching 40% of the population.
