site.btaNo Outbreaks of Goat Plague Detected in Plovdiv Region, Epizootic Commission Says

No outbreaks of goat plague have been detected on the territory of Plovdiv Region, the press centre of the Regional Administration announced after a meeting of the Regional Epizootic Commission. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Governor Nurdzhan Karadzhova. The meeting was convened because of the deteriorated situation in Bulgaria regarding the diseases smallpox in sheep and goats and plague in small ruminants.

According to the director of the Regional Directorate for Food Safety in Plovdiv, Dr Chavdar Chavdarov, the total number of small ruminants on the territory of the region is 106,000, spread over 994 farms. Almost half of them are in the municipality of Karlovo and the rest are mainly in the municipalities of Maritsa, Asenovgrad, Parvomay, Kaloyanovo and Brezovo.

The Regional Commission also defined measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission in the territory of Plovdiv region. Among them are carrying out scheduled inspections of vehicles moving on the republican road network for the transport of live animals, increased inspections in sheep and goat breeding facilities by officially registered veterinarians, preventing the organization of unauthorized markets, exhibitions and other animal gatherings.

Plovdiv Regional Governor prof. Hristina Yancheva has Friday sent a letter to all mayors requesting the convening of municipal epizootic committees by December 19.

Since the beginning of the week, disinfection has been introduced at all Bulgarian border crossings with other countries because of the risk of goat plague.