Rustam Minnikhanov gives an errand to ramp up measures to prevent animal diseases

On 19 July, speaking at meeting held by the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov with participation of the regional Prime Minister Aleksey Pesoshin in the Government House of the republic with all municipalities taking part in it via video conference, the Head of the Chief Veterinary Directorate of the Cabinet of Minister of the republic Timur Galeev reported about the current situation in hazardous cattle infectious diseases and informed that Russia is seeing an increase in infectious animal diseases, including brucellosis, rabies and African swine fever, which are a serious hazard for cattle breeding and humans.

The republic has recorded outbreaks in the Drozhzhanovsky, Cheremshansky, Rybno-Slobodsky and Baltasinsky districts caused by unauthorized import and purchase of animals without veterinary accompanying documents.

To prevent the introduction of infection, explanatory talks are held at citizens' meetings and district conferences, and leaflets are distributed to the population and heads of livestock farms. Veterinary service specialists identify unauthorized import of livestock, carry out quarantine measures, and also send information to regulatory authorities.

Despite the stabilization of the rabies situation in Tatarstan in previous years, seven contamination zones have been registered since the beginning of 2025 and to fights rabies,  systematic immunization of domestic animals, planned vaccination of livestock on farms, immunization of wild carnivores by distributing the vaccine by the staff of the Bioresources Committee are carried out.

There have been no registered cases of African swine fever in the republic since 2023, but the situation remains tense due to outbreaks registered in neighboring regions. The veterinary service conducts ongoing monitoring, including testing samples of materials from domestic pigs and wild boars, Timur Gallev said.

Giving his comments, the Rais of the republic emphasized that issues of preventing dangerous animal diseases should be a priority. “This is about the security of our republic. We are a major livestock region. Preventive measures are very important as these diseases pose a great threat,” Rustam Minnikhanov stated.