Prime Minister Pavel Filip, at the start of the September 7 meeting of the Cabinet, expressed his concern about the increasing number of cases of African swine fever reported in Ukraine, IPN reports.

“The situation in this country becomes more alarming. According to official reports, in August alone the Ukrainian authorities reported 16 new hotbeds, which is about 45% of all the hotbeds identified in Ukraine. The last hotbeds were localized in the vicinity of the Republic of Moldova and we risk facing swine fever too, if infected meat is imported,” stated the Premier.

He requested the National Food Safety Agency and the other authorities with border monitoring powers to immediately take measures to avoid the risk of infected meat being brought into the country. Pavel Filip also ordered convening the Commission for Emergencies so as to approve a plan of measures to prevent the introduction of swine fever in Moldova.