Dr. Bajrović: Bosnia and Herzegovina must not jeopardize good milk and meat exports

The good export orientation that Bosnia and Herzegovina currently has regarding milk and meat must not be jeopardized in any way. Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina would have to organize training for the veterinary border service and the introduction of quarantine as soon as possible, as well as work on better staffing and material-technical organization of diagnostic and research laboratories – warns dr. Tarik Bajrović, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Sarajevo, for the Patria News Agency.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has banned the import of cattle, beef, and milk from Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and some areas of Greece due to lumpy skin disease. Professor Bajrović warns that BiH must pay special attention to this disease so as not to jeopardize its own production.

- I believe that the import of live animals should only be carried out during the day so that all animals can be clearly seen and examined for any changes – warns Bajrović.

Lumpy skin disease is said to be non-zoonotic, but it is economically very important due to indirect and direct damages. It is difficult at this moment to talk about the importance of animal feed containing animal components, but that should also be taken into account. As well as wild game, at least the activities of hunters.

Lumpy skin disease is a classic form of acute viral disease in cattle characterized by the eruption of skin nodules of various diameters, edema on one or more legs, and swelling of superficial lymph nodes.

The causative agent is a pox virus that is serologically related to sheep and goat pox viruses.

Traditionally, this disease was found in Africa, where it is constantly increasing, it spread to the Middle East in 2000, and in 2013 it was confirmed in Turkey.

Experimental infections carried out to determine the routes of spread have indicated the importance of hard ticks and the saliva of infected cattle, but the natural course of occurrence and spread is not sufficiently known, and thus the limitations in controlling this disease.

- For the entire region, including our country, this disease is completely new, both for the professional and scientific community and for farmers, which will represent an additional complicating factor in assessing the situation in neighboring countries and potential predictions of future epidemics – says Professor Bajrović.

He warns that Bosnia and Herzegovina must pay special attention to the import of cattle hides, writes Patria.