The State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service of Ukraine has reported, referring to the chief department of veterinary medicine in Chernihiv region, that biomaterial samples from two pigs which died on September 4 at a private household in Maksymivka (Ichnia district of Chernihiv region) have tested positive for African Swine Fever (ASF).

The State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service said that in July 2015, ASF was registered in a private household in Ichnia. This is the 11th case of ASF in Chernihiv region in 2015.

A plan to liquidate ASF has been approved and the epizootic focus has been defined, as have the threatening and supervision zones.

The service said that since early 2015, quarantine zones were set up in 10 out of the 21 areas affected by ASF, and that 11 areas are still subject to quarantine.

The ASF virus is the causative agent of ASF. The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in pigs, but persistently infects its natural hosts, warthogs, bushpigs and soft ticks of the Ornithodoros genus, without any visible symptoms. There is currently no vaccine against ASF.