Swine fever outbreak hits Romania
Smithfield Foods - one the largest US meat processors
Timis official Ovidiu Draganescu said that all 25 farms belonging to Smithfield Foods will be tested for swine fever.
Swine fever is a recurrent problem in Romania, which has been banned from exporting pork to other EU countries.
Swine fever is a highly infectious disease. Infected pigs must be slaughtered and the carcases buried or incinerated
Smithfield - which claims to be the biggest pork producer in the world - bought the Timis farms in 2004.
Animal health and food safety standards have been main concerns as Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union on 1 January 2007.
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk 