The spread of African swine fever in Ukraine is analyzed. During the period of 2012–2017, the disease cases of domestic and wild pigs were registered in the territory of 131 administrative districts of 23 regions. Wild pigs are not the primary source of spreading the ASF virus. Within four years (2008–2011), the ASF, through the southern and central territories of Russia, reached the northeastern regions of Ukraine. However, the first case of the disease in the Zaporizhye region (2012) showed that the cause of the African swine fever in the territory of Ukraine was not wild pigs, but humans. The ASF was found at a considerable distance from the area of the spread of the disease. In the north-eastern regions of Ukraine, the disease was detected only in 2014. This disease could result from penetration of infected wild pigs from the territory of the neighboring state into Ukraine, in particular into Luhansk-, Chernihiv-, and Sumy regions. Evidence of this is the fact that of the 16 cases in 2014 – 12 cases were recorded in wild pigs and four – in the private sector. As of April 2017, out of 208 detected cases, only 14% was identified among wild pigs due to the small number of the species in Ukraine compared to other European countries. In 16.7% of 478 administrative districts of Ukraine, wild pigs are not found in game hunting grounds; in 2.7% of the districts area, the density of animals is less than 0.1 individual per 1000 ha, and in 65.0% of the area it is insignificant: from 0.1 to 1.4 individuals. Intense hunting (13–22% harvesting of the game stock) during 2015–2016 led to a decrease in the numbers by 33.8% in 2017. As of 2017, the number of wild pigs is more than 40 thousand individuals. Most cases with fever were recorded in the period from July to March. More than 18% of cases of pig disease were detected in August. In general, in summer, about 30% of diseases were recorded, during the autumn – about 27%, in winter – 34%, in spring – only 9%. Wild pigs were most often infected in the autumn-winter period, not recorded – in April, June and September. Over 65% of animal disease cases were detected during the hunting season. The major cause of the spread of African swine fever are humans. Localization of the disease among wild pigs can be achieved through rational use and management of the species population.
First report of intraspecific variation in wing translucency for a Neotropical bat species
