site.btaGovernment Officials, Stockbreeders Weigh Pros and Cons of Sheep Pox Vaccination

The Central Epizootic Council (CEC) met at the Bulgarian Agriculture and Food Ministry on Thursday, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, the Agriculture Ministry said in a press release. The meeting was prompted by a steep increase in sheep pox outbreaks detected in this country since mid-July. 

Taking part in the CEC meeting were officials of the ministries of interior, defence, health, transport and communications, environment and water, and economy and industry, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), and representatives of stock breeders' and dairy farmers' umbrella organizations.

Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov said after the meeting that the entire stockbreeding sector is being consulted about the option to vaccinate sheep and goats against the pox.

"We are totally ready to go with the vaccination, which is one option. The other option is to monitor the situation on a daily basis and wait with the measure's introduction. We met with the European Commission in Brussels to explore the options for administering the vaccine. The BFSA has granted a marketing authorization for the vaccine in Bulgarian territory, so we can do it right now. But we would not act single-handedly before getting feedback from the stockbreeding sector on whether they want it, considering all restrictions that will ensue," the Agriculture Minister explained.

In his words, statistics on the spread of the disease are not that shocking, and no new outbreaks have been detected in recent days. The disease has been diagnosed in Southern Bulgaria, mainly in four administrative regions. "The good news is that the infection rate curve is apparently flattening. Until last week and the week before last week, we brought the outbreaks down to one or two, but this week we have none on record," Tahov said.

According to the latest BFSA statements and media reports, the regions of Plovdiv, Haskovo, Stara Zagora and Kardzhali (Southern Bulgaria) are affected by the sheep pox, with over 100 outbreaks in aggregate detected by August 29. 

The umbrella organizations' representatives attending the meeting remained divided on the administration of the vaccine, mainly because of the risk of possible restrictions on the export of dairy products to third countries and with regard to the trade and sale of animals from areas where vaccination has been carried out. 

Next week the associations will hold local-level meetings with farmers of the affected areas in an effort to arrive at a consolidated decision on local vaccination. BFSA experts will take part in these meetings, and they will inform farmers of the possible trade restrictions that a possible vaccination would entail and the benefits and disadvantages of the measure. Farmers will be able to state clearly whether they are prepared to go ahead with this decision, being aware of all the pros and cons. The decision reached will then be relayed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.