Swarming flies go on killing spree

More than 300 cows, horses, sheep and pigs were bitten to death over the weekend by swarming flies in eastern Latvia, the Agriculture Ministry said today.

Warm temperatures after an unusually cold, damp spring created ideal conditions for the massive swarms of flies to attack grazing animals in Latgale, one of the European Union’s poorest regions, said Viktors Grapmanis, the head of the ministry’s food and veterinary department.