ASF found in northern Italy

African swine fever continues to spread in the EU, and Italy has become the latest country to face problems caused by an outbreak of ASF. On January 7, authorities in the Piedmont region confirmed the presence of the disease in the wild boar population, with one animal dying after being infected with the virus.

African swine fever is harmless to humans but often fatal to pigs, resulting in financial losses for farmers. The virus originated in Africa and then spread to Europe and Asia and killed hundreds of millions of pigs around the world.

The discovery of the virus in Italy could be a blow to the country's MEAT producers, as governments often block imports of pork products from countries where the disease has been detected to prevent transmission.

CHINA and other pork buyers banned imports of German pork in September 2020 after the first case in wild animals was confirmed in Germany. The disease is also present in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, among EU member states, as well as in RUSSIA, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova, Asia, Africa and the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The regional government of Piedmont asked the mayors of the cities to stop hunting after the discovery of ASF. Wild boar can transmit the virus to other pigs.

The government also said it was stepping up surveillance of wild boar and pig farms and maximizing farm cleanup measures. “As with the ( covid-19 ) pandemic, the African swine fever emergency must also be resolved by appealing to everyone,” said Piedmont HEALTH spokesman Luigi Icardi, quoted by REUTERS. “The Piedmont health system is working together with operators in the sector to prevent the spread of the virus and protect pig farms.”