The General Director of the National Veterinary and Plant Protection Authority, Roland Meçaj, said that the measures are intended to stop the spread of Ruminant Plague, a disease that causes significant damage to the livestock economy.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), also known as sheep and goat plague, is a highly contagious animal disease affecting domestic and wild small ruminants. It is caused by a virus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus, family Paramixoviridae.

The disease spreads rapidly in livestock herds, but there is no danger to human life.

“So far, there are no cases of ruminant plague in Albania, meanwhile the measures taken are quite effective, at least so far, because we have made it possible, by order of the minister, to ban imports from countries such as Romania and Greece, which have already manifested this disease. Also, the AKVMB has increased the level of awareness of the structures as well as the population and all livestock farmers who deal with animal breeding”, he said.

According to Meçaj, no goat or sheep from Greece will enter Albania until a second order is issued.

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