New ASF outbreaks in Poland
Two new cases of ASF have been reported this month in Poland, one in a farm with almost 2,000 pigs in the district Bi?goraj, Lublin and another one in a small farm just 50 kilometres away from the German border. All the animals have been culled to stop the disease from spreading. The ongoing ASF crisis in Poland seems to accelerate and that is worrying for the local industry but also to farmers in neighbouring Germany. A total of 13 new outbreaks of the disease had occurred in pig farms within two weeks. According to experts, ASF has thus regained considerable momentum, especially with regard to domestic pigs. According to official statistics, around 42,000 animals have had to be killed in Poland since the beginning of January. This is already significantly more than the total figures reported last year when around 35,400 domestic pigs had to be culled in a total of 48 outbreaks.
Until the beginning of the year, wild boars from Poland were considered the biggest danger from spreading the disease in Germany and authorities have built fences on the borderline to stop animals from crossing. Germany is one of the largest pig producers in Europe and exports large volumes of pig meat so an outbreak it could be disastrous for the industry.
In Poland, ASF is present for more than 5 years, being brought by wild boars from Ukraine. So far, no solution to contain the disease from spreading has been found and the lack of a vaccine is increasing the risks presented by the virus. 15 European countries have reported ASF in their swine population, with only the Czech Republic being declared ASF-free at the end of 2018 and Belgium managing to contain the disease from spreading to domestic pigs.
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