Even a limited outbreak of swine pest, a highly contagious disease common in pigs, could cost the Scandinavian nation $240 million, veterinarians said.
Behind the scenes of Trident Juncture 18, the largest NATO drill on Norwegian soil since the 1980s, frantic work to prevent the spread of the feared disease was underway, the daily newspaper Dagbladet reported.
The alarm went off after a foreign soldier was found to be in possession of prohibited bacon bits he had taken from his home country, where the disease is raging.
Following the revelation, a team of hand-picked veterinarians and specialists from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority worked day and night to ensure that Norway is not affected by African swine pest, a highly contagious disease common in pigs. While it doesn't affect humans, swine pest (also known as swine fever or ASFV) may have devastating consequences for a nation's economy.
“Just to illustrate how important controls are, a limited outbreak of African swine pest alone could cost our country NOK 2 billion ($240 million). Unfortunately, there are a number of examples, such as in Moldova, where pork production disappeared after an outbreak,” Colonel Per Leines Lausund told Dagbladet.
As Norwegian Armed Forces veterinary inspector, Lausund became the leader of the 45-strong expert team who have been hunting down all possible sources of infection during the NATO drill. All in all, over 10,000 vehicles have been inspected.
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