By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) – Russia’s Siberian Novosibirsk region has declared a state of emergency to tackle a cattle disease outbreak after weeks of forced removals for culling triggered protests by small farmers who say the measures threatened their livelihoods.
State news agency TASS quoted the region’s agriculture minister, Andrei Shindelov, as saying the emergency would allow “for effective coordination of actions and the containment of the movement of animals and animal products.”
Officials said they had identified five outbreaks of pasteurellosis–a severe bacterial pneumonia–and 42 of rabies in the region from where farm animals were being removed.
Media reports and social media posts showed thousands of cows and other cattle being burned to contain the diseases, with villagers confronting police and officials to resist seizure of their cattle.
FARMER WASN’T HOME WHEN ANIMALS WERE TAKEN
In one video, Svetlana Panina, a local farmer from the village of Novoklyuchi, chases Shindelov through the corridors of a local administration building, saying she would soon not be able to eat or pay her bills.
“Why are you running away? Go and hide in a toilet from us people,” Panina tells the official. She says lost 200 head of cattle, including three camels, and was not at home when the animals were taken.
Shindelov’s statement, as reported by TASS, says the emergency was declared a month ago. But many farmers say they were unaware of it, and that pasteurellosis does not require culling and can be treated with antibiotics.
Rabies vaccination is mandatory in Russia.
The cattle seizures mainly affected small farms, while larger agricultural enterprises were spared, angering farmers.
The emergency allows farmers to seek compensation for culled animals, and local officials said the first payments were being processed.
SOME SMALLER OUTBREAKS
Novosibirsk is Russia’s 15th largest region with a population of over 2 million. It borders Kazakhstan and is located about 600 km (373 miles) from China.
The Russian agriculture watchdog blamed the scale of the outbreak on extreme winter cold in Siberia, which weakened the animals’ immunity, and urged farmers not to use feed of unknown origin.
Several other Siberian regions reported smaller outbreaks or said they were on alert.
“There are some cases when a fast reaction is needed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that affected regions were coordinating their actions with Moscow.
The agriculture ministry did not respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
Several people were briefly detained, but no major crackdown on protesters has been reported.
(Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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