SOFIA, Bulgaria -                                              Industrial pig farmers in Bulgaria, Friday, August 2, called for the declaration of a state of emergency in the country, following the spread of African Swine Fever.

CEOAfrica gathered that the call was backed by representatives of meat production, meat processing, and grain producers, they demanded even stricter measures to halt the spread of the virus, which is about to cause huge economic losses to the country.

Report disclosed that at present, 30% of the livestock from industrial pig farming in Bulgaria is lost, which means that 450,000 animals will not be put on the market.

The export of meat to foreign markets is at risk, as well as the export of grain.

Rumen Karamanov, pig breeder, said “We identify government measures as exceptionally important to us and these measures can work. That is why we are appealing to introduction of state of emergency in the whole country so that same measures are applied to everyone.

“I would like to address the farmers who distribute pigs all over the country and hide them from veterinarians. You can hide them from the Food Safety Agency officials, but you cannot hide them from the fever,” Tsvetan Iliev, Association of Industrial Pig Breeders, said.