An outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Armenia has been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
According to the report, clinical signs of the disease have been observed in six locations within the country (AGARTSNI, AGARTSNI, TAVUSH; VAHAGNI, VAHAGNI, LORI; Dilijan, DILIJAN, TAVUSH MARZ; VAAGNADZOR, VAAGNADZOR, LORI; DSEGH, DSEGH, LORI; BAREKAMAVAN, BAREKAMAVAN, TAVUSH) starting on August 7th. The outbreak was confirmed by virus isolation at the National Laboratory of Armenia on August 9th. IFA and PCR tests, conducted at the Federal Scientific Institution All-Russia Scientific Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology, located in Pokrov, Russia on August 28th, were also positive.
The outbreak has affected 2228 susceptible swine resulting in 657 clinical cases. The morbidity rate was 29.49% with a case fatality rate of 100%. An additional 517 animals were destroyed as a control measure. Movement restrictions and stamping out have been implemented.
The source of the outbreak is unknown. The affected farms are clustered in the northern third of the country bordered by Georgia (map) which has been battling numerous outbreaks of ASF over the last few months. It appears that the disease has now spread to the autonomous republic of Abkhazia in the north of Georgia where officials have begun stamping out to halt the further spread of the disease.