Veterinarian Nebojša Gorašević, a candidate for councilor of the election list "Black on white - Može Nikšić", claims that among the heifers that were imported in previous years for the purpose of improving the racial composition in Montenegro, there were cows infected with Q fever.
As he said at the press conference, the import of heifers began in 2000, when about 1.050 head of the brown breed and 100 head of the Simmental breed were imported, while the second major import was in 2005, when 250 head of the Holstein Friesian breed were imported.
"At that time, I had the opportunity to hear unconfirmed information that some of those throats were infected with Q fever. There is no official evidence, but in those years, in the reports of the Institute for Public Health on zoonoses, information about people suffering from Q fever appeared again," Gorašević said. with a note that Q fever is classified as a dangerous disease in the monthly reports published on its website by the Directorate for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs (UBHVFP).
"The causative agent of Q fever is classified as one of the most potent agents of bioterrorism. Fortunately, it most often occurs in humans with a very mild clinical picture, but what makes it dangerous is the very complex and expensive eradication procedure, as well as the consequences for the economy of Montenegro," said Gorašević.
According to him, data about the mentioned two imports can hardly be found on the Internet, but it is interesting that on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry and the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs, there are different data on the time of the first verification occurrence of Q fever in animals in Montenegro.
"The Ministry states that the disease appeared in 2008, while, according to the Administration, it happened in 2013. The destruction of a certain number of cattle was carried out in 2008, because they were infected with Q fever in Nikšić. The problem is that the monthly reports on the occurrence of infectious diseases animals from 2008 can't be uploaded to the Administration's website," claims Gorašević.
He reminded that since 2015, the Support Program of the Ministry of Agriculture for the improvement of the livestock fund starts, and that it is an interesting coincidence that the import of cattle to Montenegro, through two companies that are not mentioned anywhere in the contracts, goes precisely from the countries that were the previous year to the World Organization for animal health reported that they have registered Q fever in the territory or did not provide information about this disease.
"Although in January 2018 we have two sick cows in Nikšić, in February 13, March XNUMX, it was not a signal for the authorities that the situation was very serious. The practice continues, which will prove to be a measure for the regression of the livestock fund, and to a considerable extent the trust of livestock farmers has also been shaken. I will not waste words on the position, hard and responsible work of those people, because no one can talk about it better than the former minister Milutin Simović, who contributed to it with his actions," Gorašević pointed out.
According to him, in the contracts of the livestock farmer Zoran Todorović, who is listed as an importer in the contracts and decisions of the Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, it is written that he must inform the competent official veterinarian or the veterinary clinic that will carry out quarantine measures about the arrival of the shipment.
"Zoran fails to do this and does not attend the arrival and crossing of the state border at Debela Brije and does not know when the shipment, whose importer he is, will arrive. For the simple reason that no one informs him until the moment when the shipment has already arrived and the animals are unloaded without his presence veterinarian," Gorašević said.
Gorašević pointed out that in the veterinary report on the quarantine, issued by the Ministry's Decision on the return of financial resources on October 29, 2018, it is stated that at the end of the quarantine there are five newly acquired cattle on the farm, while the veterinary inspector's decision mentions seven heifers, and by the same decision, Todorović is allowed to import and put into circulation a shipment of seven heifers. When the first cow that was in quarantine had an abortion, the possibility of Q fever was not investigated, although eight positive cows were found in Nikšić in August, and seven in Danilovgrad.
"The icing on the cake is the announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture that they paid Todorović a one-time financial aid in the amount of 1000 euros, while there is no act that could inform the public on the basis of which indicators and from which sources these funds come. Everything points to the need serious analysis of all these activities. The last delivery of heifers, for which both the realization of the investment and the refund of funds by the Ministry should have been completed in September of last year, is a special problem. Along with all the other ambiguities, the absence of any hint from the competent services when that refund could to be realized, it portends the obstruction of certain structures in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Directorate for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs, which are directly responsible," Gorašević pointed out.
There is information, as he said, that on several occasions the import of heifers was carried out to the satisfaction of the farmers, so they will try to talk with those herdsmen to see if they were treated like herdsmen who had losses.
"Our goal is for the farmer to be just another citizen equal to the others, a citizen who realizes his rights and fulfills his obligations and who must not be the subject of any, least of all, political manipulation", concluded the candidate for councilor from the list "Black on white - Može Nikšić ".
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