Serbia reports suspected African swine fever cases in backyard pigs

PARIS (Reuters) – Serbia has reported four suspected outbreaks of African swine fever among backyard pigs, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday.

Three of the cases were detected in the Belgrade area and one in the district of Podunavski, the OIE said, citing a report from Serbia’s agriculture ministry.

The suspected cases of the disease killed seven pigs while another 114 were slaughtered, the report showed.

African swine fever, which is incurable in pigs but harmless to humans, has been spreading in eastern Europe and the European Union’s executive last week called the disease an “urgent challenge”.