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There is a suspected case of African swine fever in Germany. A suspected wild boar carcass from Brandenburg is being virologically examined at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.
In Brandenburg there is an official suspicion of African swine fever. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
A wild boar carcass was found a few kilometers from the German-Polish border in the Spree-Neisse district. A sample of the dead animal is being virologically examined at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute. Federal Minister Julia Klöckner will report on the result on Thursday.
Crisis centers prepare measures
The spokesperson for the Brandenburg Ministry of Consumer Protection said: “Today we have found an official suspected case of African swine fever.” Only when the national reference laboratory also confirms the suspicion can we speak of an outbreak. The state crisis center and the municipal crisis centers are activated. The first protection measures are being prepared.
African swine fever ASF is a serious viral infection. There is no vaccination or therapy, infected domestic pigs and wild boars often die. The virus is resistant and contagious for a long time. The pathogen can persist for months or even years in raw sausages, ham, and frozen meat. The virus poses no danger to humans, but the viruses are often fatal to wild and domestic pigs.
Serious economic consequences
An outbreak of swine fever in this country would have serious economic consequences. In such a case, third countries like China would stop their pork imports because Germany would no longer have “disease-free” status. On ASF farms, domestic pigs would have to be slaughtered, that is, slaughtered. For this, the farm owners would receive compensation from the animal disease fund. However, it would look different for pig farmers whose operations are only in the prescribed restricted area. They couldn’t sell their slaughterhouse-ready animals and they wouldn’t get money from the animal disease fund.
The animal disease was introduced from Africa and has spread through Russia and the Baltic States into Western Europe for several years. The Czech Republic had some cases in the summer of 2017, but has been free from ASF for a good year again. Infected wild boars were found in the France-Luxembourg-Belgium border triangle in autumn 2018, but Belgian authorities have so far been able to prevent the spread.
