Agriculture, Estonia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

"Pig breeders are aware of the restrictions enforced to prevent the spread of the disease, and there were few significant violations," said the Board's Director General Ago Pärtel.

Over a month, the FVB inspected 920 households in Estonia, which had 380,090 pigs. During the inspection, the number of pigs was recorded, the implementation of bio-security measures and the prohibition of keeping animals outdoors were checked.

In 104 cases, the inspectors had to revise earlier registry data, in 21 cases, advice was given on better implementation of bio-security measures and in 20 cases, the farmer violated the ban of keeping of pigs outdoors.

FVB officials visited a total of 1,116 buildings associated with pig farming, which were in the registries or the existence of which was known.

FVB warned that possible compensations for damages incurred because of the disease can be claimed only by animal keepers who are registered in the registry, and who implement preventive measures.

As of 22 September, the Veterinary and Food Laboratory has tested 347 wild boars and 945 domestic pigs for African swine plague. So far, the disease has been diagnosed in a total of nine wild boars.