National quarantine for 30 days for sheep and goats. Measures imposed by ANSVSA

Among the measures imposed are the suspension of animal movement, control filters on roads, but also measures imposed on city halls and hunting fund managers at the national level.

The decision to establish the quarantine period comes after several sheep from a farm in Mureș were confirmed with PMR, a serious epidemiological context that overlaps with the evolution of active outbreaks of Swine Fever, according to the press release published by the sanitary-veterinary authority.

Ban on the movement of sheep and goats from affected areas

„The measures aim to quickly isolate the routes of spread of the virus, given that it loses its contagiousness within 21 days. ANSVSA emphasizes that the PMR virus is not transmissible to humans and does not affect food safety,” ANSVSA reports.

According to ANSVSA, all movements of sheep and goats on Romanian territory are suspended, as part of the 30-day quarantine.

However, slaughterhouses are an exception: Only direct transport from farms or collection centers to the slaughterhouse is allowed, approved exclusively based on a written request verified by the territorial DSVSA.

Also, during the quarantine period, grazing restrictions are imposed: Contact between herds is eliminated by prohibiting grazing in affected areas and prohibiting the use of the same pasture by multiple breeders.

Tighter controls on farms, markets and livestock transport

The Police, Gendarmerie and Border Police are intensifying controls. In the event of interception of a clandestine transport, the animals are detained, and a DSVSA veterinarian will arrive on site within a maximum of 60 minutes.

Hunting funds will also be monitored: „Managers are obliged to urgently collect and transport to the DSVSA laboratories all carcasses of ruminants, cervids and pigs found in the wild”.

City halls in the restriction areas are obliged to ensure logistics for the safe neutralization of carcasses from farms where animals confirmed to have died due to viruses.

According to the ANSVSA, concrete county implementation plans are developed by the County Emergency Committees (CJSU) within a maximum of 24 hours, and the measures will be permanently updated by the ANSVSA depending on the epidemiological evolution.

Biosecurity norms aim at limiting the spread of the disease and protecting Romania’s livestock sector

Outbreaks of swine fever have decreased at national level due to the application of biosecurity norms. According to the ANSVSA, from 1,600 outbreaks of ASF, their number has decreased to 17 nationally.

“Now we must do the same to combat Peste des Petits Ruminants. The radical measures adopted today are absolutely necessary to protect Romanian livestock in the face of new epidemiological challenges. Blocking exports and suspending animal movements represent the only effective barrier at this time to stop the spread of the virus,” said Alexandru Bociu, president of the ANSVSA.

The authorities are making a firm appeal to all breeders to strictly comply with biosecurity rules and to immediately report to veterinarians any sign of illness or mortality among animals.