GEORGIA: JUNE 7 UPDATE ON AFRICAN SWINE FEVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 001364 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CARC, OES/S AND EB.TPP/ABT E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2017 TAGS: EAGR SENV PGOV TBIO GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: JUNE 7 UPDATE ON AFRICAN SWINE FEVER OUTBREAK REF: TBILISI 1329 Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft, reason 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) The Georgian government has begun to mobilize its forces to deal with the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) reported reftel. Prime Minister Noghaideli discussed the situation with the Cabinet on June 6 and ordered that appropriate measures be taken. The same day the government notified the International Office of Epizootics (OIE),which has issued a worldwide alert message. The GOG's report to the OIE indicates the presence of the disease in all parts of the country, but Western Georgia, near the Black Sea coast is believed to be most affected. Twenty thousand susceptible pigs have been destroyed, and others have certainly died of the virus. The Georgian Ministry of Agriculture lab speculates that the disease originated in animal waste from a ship that docked in Poti. Lacking any facilities to incinerate the waste, it was improperly disposed of. The GOG reported to the OIE that it is controlling movement of swine within the country, disinfecting premises, dipping and spraying pigs, quarantining infected animals, and culling herds. The government announced publicly that it is informing the population of the problem, isolating pigs, killing stray pigs on sight and digging holes to dispose of the carcasses. Special quarantine zones have been established in Kakheti where the sale of pork is banned. Surveillance of Tbilisi markets is being stepped up. ¶2. (C) When we contacted him today, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Bakur Kvezereli was in Kakheti accompanying a Canadian expert provided by the World Bank to see what more can be done. The head of Embassy Tbilisi's Defense Threat Reduction Office (DTRO) is meeting with Minister of Agriculture Petre Tsiskarishvili on the evening of June 7, the day Tsiskarishvili returned from Europe, to inform him about what DTRO can offer. Tsiskarishvili has spent the day touring affected areas of the country. DTRO is hosting a team of U.S. veterinary experts that will arrive in Georgia on the evening of June 8. The experts are bringing reagents needed to conduct field testing of animals. They will conduct training on June 9 for employees of the Ministry of Agriculture laboratory. Their expertise, equipment and supplies will give the Ministry of Agriculture the ability to test for the disease, which it lacks now. DTRO wants to provide the Ministry with a "stun gun" that can be used to kill pigs in a painless and bloodless way required to prevent the spread of infection. TEFFT