Swine fever outbreak ‘economic sabotage’

Russia blames Georgia for bringing African Swine Fever into southern Russia, the head of the country’s state consumer protection agency, Gennady Onishchenko, has said.

Mr Onishchenko initiated an injunction banning wine and mineral water imports from Georgia in 2006, two years before the five-day war between two countries.

He was yesterday quoted as saying: “ASF came to us from Georgia. First, of course, to Ossetia, and then to the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions.

“There are signs that this situation is artificially injected. It is economic sabotage.”

Relations between Russia and Georgia remain tense nearly four years after they fought a five-day war in August 2008 over the Russian-backed breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Moscow and Tbilisi have still not restored diplomatic ties and frequently criticise one another.

Russia’s Krasnodar region, near several key Black Sea export ports, has been unable to eliminate African Swine Fever for the past three years, Mr Onishchenko said.

The virus is most common at small farms and is spread partly by wild boars. It is harmless to humans.