site.btaUPDATED Two Sheep Farms Infected with Smallpox Identified in Southern Bulgaria in Two Days

Two sheep farms infected with smallpox were identified within two days in the Haskovo village of Uzundzhovo, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) said on its official website on Friday. There were 307 sheep and 217 goats kept in the primary outbreak site and 313 animals were kept in the second site, technologically linked to the primary outbreak site.

Humane culling of the animals was used to prevent the spread of the disease. A three-kilometre protection zone has been established around the outbreak, covering the land of the village of Uzundzhovo. A 10-kilometre surveillance zone around the outbreak has also been marked.

According to the mayor of the village of Uzundzhovo, Dimitar Nichev, there are four local farms where goats and sheep are kept.

Because of the outbreaks, the BFSA said it had sent a letter to livestock associations in the country informing them of the imposition of restrictive measures, such as a ban on grazing, trade, movement and transport of small ruminants, to prevent the spread of smallpox elsewhere.

The Director of the Regional Directorate for Food Safety (RDBH) in Haskovo, Dr. Georgi Iliev, warned that smallpox in small ruminants is very contagious and has a high mortality rate. Although the disease does not pose a danger to humans, it causes significant economic damage to farms when it spreads. 

Increased controls have been introduced for the transport of animals across the Bulgarian borders with Romania and Greece due to outbreaks of smallpox in sheep, caretaker Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov told journalists later on Friday.

"What the Ministry of Agriculture and Food is doing purely institutionally, through the issuance of administrative orders, is banning the movement and trade of animals - small cattle. However, from here, I want to appeal through you for compliance with the directions in this order. The epizootic situation is very aggravated in countries around us such as Romania and Greece, and they, as countries bordering us, which are close to our areas, are really a prerequisite for the entry of diseases to us," the Agriculture Minister said. 

He added that all necessary measures are being taken to contain the contagion. So far there are two outbreaks and they are local.