Romanian authorities have confirmed a hotbed of swine fever at a farm in Cenei, Timis county in Western Romania on Sunday. The farm, belonging to US group Smithfield Foods, was the stage of a mass slaughter where some 20,000 pigs were culled in this latest wave of swine fever.

The European Commission is expected to send 1 million doses of anti-swine fever vaccine to Romania on Monday to help the country deal with the Cenei hotbed, Commissioner spokesperson Christiane Hohmann said, quoted by Italian agency ANSA.

The farm was bought by Smithfield from Romanian meat processing company Comtim in March 2004.

A full ban on the circulation of people, livestocks or transporting vehicles was installed at the farm as a result of the latest swine fever alarm. The infection was confirmed by the Animal Health Institute in Bucharest.

Some 3,500 pigs died at the same farm two weeks ago, but the authorities said at the time it was because of a bacterial illness amplified by excessive heat.