Russian Officials To Kill 33,000 Pigs

The Tver region of Russia is coping with a difficult situation as an outbreak of the deadly African Swine Fever plagues the nation's pig population. To cope with the lethal disease, Russia plans to kill more than 30,000 swine to keep the situation under control.

The Zavolshskoye Breeding Plant plans to slaughter 33,000 pigs, and a second site nearby that holds 90,000 pigs may have to put some down as well, according to The Moscow Times.

No pigs at the second site have been confirmed ill and efforts are underway to ensure that the animals at that site don't become sick, said deputy head of the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection Service Nikolai Vlasov to The Moscow Times.

The Zavolshskoye Breeding Plant has to be destroyed because it is too old to be disinfected, Vlasov told The Moscow Times.

As a result of the outbreak, transportation of pigs from Tver has been banned and a quarantine has been placed on the area until the situation is under control, reported The Huffington Post.

The African Swine Fever was detected more than a year ago in a wild boar and since then cases at local farms have appeared regularly, but no quarantine was implemented until July 19, according to The Moscow Times.

Although African Swine Fever can cause lethal hemorrhaging in pigs, it has no impact on humans, according to The Huffington Post.

Sean Flynn is a Junior Writer for The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @BuffaloFlynn.