Veterinary Health authorities in Timis County announced on Saturday they discovered an outbreak of swine fever at the farm, located in Cenei village. Some 3,500 pigs died at the farm two weeks ago, but local authorities had said the deaths were caused by a bacteria favored by extreme heat, and not by fever.
Smithfield, the world's largest producer of pork products, owns 25 pig farms in Timis County and several others in Arad and Bihor Counties. Animals are transferred from one farm to another, according to age, so there is a risk of contamination. All Smithfield farms have been placed under surveillance to prevent the virus from spreading.
"They bring in pigs continuously," according to the Director of the Timis Veterinary Health Department (DSV), Ioan Jeleriu. He explained that the swine fever virus could have come from another farm, but did not rule out infection from wild boars.
Last year, Romania started a vaccination campaign against swine fever, in accordance with EU regulations. The program, worth a total of €45.3 million, will involve the vaccination of four million pigs in the next four years. There were 716 outbreaks recorded in 2006 in Romania, and authorities had announced in June 2007 that the virus had been eradicated.
