More vets to be hired to prevent spread of swine fever from Balkans

The government on Thursday introduced an amendment that will allow the Agriculture Ministry to hire an additional 50 veterinaries in order to speed up inspections at pig farms across the country for African swine fever.

Greek authorities are concerned of the highly contagious disease spreading from Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, where thousands of pigs are being culled to stem an epidemic.

Experts quoted by Reuters last week said Bulgaria could lose its entire pig breeding industry and have its 600,000 pigs culled due to the highly contagious and deadly disease, which affects pigs but not humans.

Greece banned pork imports from Bulgaria last month, but there are still concerns of the disease making an appearance here.