SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian veterinary authorities said on Wednesday that they would cull 17,000 pigs after detecting an outbreak of African swine fever at a breeding farm in the northeast of the country, the fifth industrial farm hit by the fast-spreading virus.
The outbreak was detected at a farm in the village of Balgarsko Slivov, near the Danube town of Svishtov. More than 100,000 pigs have already been culled in another four farms in the past two weeks.
European Union member Bulgaria has so far detected more than 20 outbreaks of African swine fever at industrial or backyard farms in the northern part of the country.
African swine fever is a highly contagious disease that affects pigs and wild boar. It does not affect humans.
(The story corrects in paragraph 2 to say another four farms, not three.)
(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Susan Fenton)
