PARTING WITH THE PIG

Perhaps the most im-portant indicator of good work by the veterinary services is the absence of mass cases of human infection from diseases common to humans and animals. This is precisely the ultimate objective of the State Veterinary Service, whose work goes unnoticed by us: only then can the farmer rest assured that an epizootic outbreak will not cause mass deaths among his livestock.  It is hard to conceive a worse scourge: the losses which farmers sustain from mass deaths of their cattle often cause total devastation and the collapse of the farms. Especially as in Azerbaijan there is no provision for payment of monetary compensation to farmers.

From birds to pigs

It is quite possible that the end of the year of the Fire Pig and beginning of the year of the Earth Rat brought bad luck for pigs: on 28 January 2007, the State Veterinary Service of the Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry disseminated an official statement saying that the African swine fever virus had been discovered at an Azerbaijani farm. The virus was found in the village of Nic in Qabala District, and quarantine was imposed in the village soon after to prevent any spread of the virus.

This was a truly major development for the agricultural sector. Many people remember the response aroused by bird flu all over the world. The irony was that bird flu broke out in the year of the Wood Rooster. One state after another locked its borders to poultry imports. The borders are locked against pork from Azerbaijan too. It is a rule of the International Epizootic Bureau that if a case of veterinary disease is registered in a country, the country must report this to the bureau and Azerbaijan duly reported. Soon, reports about African swine fever were spread by many international news portals. Russia, Ukraine and other countries imposed bans on imports of pork from Azerbaijan.

However, African swine fever is not as dangerous as, say, bird flu. It is also possible that the farmers themselves were somewhat negligent. In particular, it was known that African swine fever had been detected in October-November 2007 in Georgia and Armenia.

Joseph Domenech, Chief Veterinary Officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said back then that the, "distribution of African swine fever virus in the Caucasus may have the most dramatic consequences. The absence of control over any spread of the virus and of a strategy to combat it may lead to distribution of this disease to many other countries." As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed. Azerbaijani farmers should have taken heed of these recommendations and vaccinated their animals in a timely fashion. Luckily, African swine fever is not contagious for humans, only pigs are affected. It manifests itself in fever and damage to blood-forming organs and blood vessels. The animal dies 2 to 5 days after contracting the infection. However, treating these animals is also forbidden.

In the mean time, the quarantine imposed on the village of Nic will only be lifted one month after the elimination of the source of the disease. It is forbidden to enter or exit the village. Because of the threat of dissemination of African swine fever, a large agricultural market which served the residents of the five neighbouring districts has been closed. The market was the main source of income for 80% of Nic residents. After the slaughter of 115 pigs, no new cases were found. No cases of the disease were found in other districts of the country. From 28 January until now, more than 180 pigs have died in Nic. This is why, according to the rules, all animals were to be slaughtered within the quarantine area. The residents demand that they should be compensated for the "loss" of the animals. But the State Veterinary Service noted that it is the farmers' responsibility to carry out preventive measures at their farms.

Wild boars and housing conditions

Veterinary Service Head Ismail Hasanov also said that African swine fever could have come to our country from Georgia. However, it is also possible that the domestic pigs in the village of Nic in Qabala District were infected by wild boars, because livestock housing conditions leave much to be desired.

"Although African swine fever was detected in Azerbaijan, there are no reasons for concern. We took all measures necessary to prevent its further spread. And humans should not fear this disease because it only affects pigs. Even if residents ate infected pork, they would not contract the disease.  The only threat from this disease is that it kills pigs and thereby causes grave financial damage to farmers. In addition, there are no preventive vaccines or treatment for African swine fever," said Mr. Hasanov.

The veterinary service issued a directive to all pig farmers in Azerbaijan, demanding that their operations should become closed-cycle. But prevention is better than dealing with consequences.  This is why the State Veterinary Service plans to carry out monitoring for African swine fever at all pig farms. According to State Veterinary Service data, the livestock farms of Azerbaijan have a total of 20,000 pigs. Besides Azerbaijan, the disease was found in Georgia, Armenia and southern Russia.

In the summer of 2007, Russia spent tens of millions of rubles on primary preventive measures to check the spread of the African swine fever virus from Georgia. Internationally, when the threat of a serious situation arises, governments spend a lot of money on combating the epidemic, as was the case when the threat of bird flu became real.

For instance, as early as summer 2007, Bernard Vallat, general director of the International Epizootic Bureau, noted that Georgia "did not take seriously the bureau's warning about assigning the functions of veterinary oversight to the customs services." As a result, the epidemic of African swine fever broke out in the country, affecting half of the pig stock. Georgia asked the bureau to send in experts, and the request was granted. But it took huge investment to curb the spread of the virus in Georgia. It is also a common practice to compensate farmers because they sustain huge losses when they have to kill off their livestock. But in addition to compensation, the owners of the slaughtered animals also receive money to cover their logistic and training expenses.