It’s possible that a deadly swine disease has just entered Germany, which if confirmed could scare off international buyers and devastate the exports of Europe’s largest pig-producing nation.
A suspected case of African swine fever has been identified in the eastern state of Brandenburg, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday, referring to the virus that kills most infected pigs within 10 days but is not harmful to humans. The possible infection was detected in the corpse of a wild boar found near the border with Poland.
The European Union’s top pork producer and a key supplier to China, the biggest consumer, has been training dogs to sniff out dead wild boars, building electric fences along the eastern border and urging drivers not to throw away scraps. of ham sandwich out the window to avoid the disease do not enter the country.
The confirmation of an outbreak of swine fever in Germany would deal a further blow to the nation in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. A national lockdown in the spring plunged the economy into its worst recession since World War II, and activity is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until late next year at the earliest.
As soon as a case is confirmed, even if it is a wild pig, German pork exports to non-EU countries would no longer be allowed, while sales to the bloc are still possible under certain conditions, according to the DBV farm lobby.
Further tests are underway at Germany’s institute for animal health and Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner will provide more information as it becomes available on Thursday, according to the ministry statement.
Neighboring Poland has recently seen an increase in cases. According to the latest estimates from the European Commission, the nation has more than 3,000 confirmed infections, mostly in wild boars. The disease can be spread by direct contact between sick and healthy animals, as well as by feeding on garbage containing infected meat and by soft ticks.
“This would be the first confirmed case in Germany, although apparently not in a commercial herd,” said Dennis Smith, senior account executive at Archer Financial Services. “As a precautionary measure, its pork exports could be closed. No one including China would accept pork from Germany until more is known.”
If the case disrupts exports, that could help boost prices in the United States, which has been exporting record amounts of pork to China after African swine fever decimated the Asian nation’s herd last year.
“This is very friendly, optimistic, for US pork prices, if German pork exports are shut down,” Smith said.
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