Russia strengthens fight against FMD
Rosselkhoznadzor said the FMD situation in Russia had deteriorated dramatically in 2013. Over the past three years there were only five reported outbreaks of the disease, but from the beginning of this year there have already been 52 outbreaks registered in the country, including outbreaks of the new serotype (A), which turned out to be resistant to existing vaccines.
In the opinion of Russian vets, this situation is threatening to result in serious losses for the country’s livestock business.
“So far the disease has not spread extremely widely, and it is clear that when we have vaccines we will be able to localise all the outbreaks. And we will not allow the situation that happened in England, for example, when all livestock were culled. We just need to react quickly on the first signs [of outbreaks] and then we will be able to save the livestock,” said Dankvert.
According to information from Rosselkhoznadzor, this year outbreaks of FMD have been reported in five regions of the country: in the Republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai, Trans-Baikal Krai and the Amur Oblast.
The new serotype A has been detected in around 20% of outbreaks, and Russian vets are currently working on new vaccines to stop the spread of this strain of the disease. Rosselkhoznadzor is also carrying out large prophylactic vaccination of cattle in the 34 regions of the Russian Federation.
According to Rosselkhoznadzor deputy head Nikolai Vlasov, the new serotype of the disease came to Russia from neighbouring China.
“Immunity generated by the vaccines against the new strains of the disease is sufficient to slow down the spread of this type of FMD and hide some symptoms. However, it is insufficient to prevent the infection and virus reproduction in animals, as well as its release into the environment and the infection of new animals,” he explained.
