The number of African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks recorded in domestic pigs across the EU increased by 76% to 585 in 2025.
This was accompanied by a 44% rise in the number of cases in wild boar, according to the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) latest annual epidemiological report.
The shock emergence of the virus in wild boar in Spain in November, after 31 years without detection, raised the number of affected member states to 14.
Domestic pigs
While the number of confirmed outbreaks on domestic farms was up by 76% year on year, the figure of 585 is relatively low by recent standards, following a fall in 2024. It is lower than the levels recorded every year between 2018 and 2023, with the exception of 2022.
The increase was largely driven by Romania, which accounted for 81% of all domestic EU outbreaks during 2025. Further increases were reported in Croatia, Estonia and Latvia.
Most outbreaks, 91%, occurred in establishments with fewer than 100 pigs. A clear summer peak was observed, although in some member states this peak was less pronounced but more prolonged than in previous years.
Wild boar
However, EU ASF outbreaks in wild boar reached their highest level, 11,036, since 2021, represents a 44% increase on the 2024 figure of 7,677 outbreaks.
Poland accounted for nearly one in three outbreaks (31%), while there were two notable ‘translocation events’. After the Spanish authorities reported the first ASF outbreaks in wild boar since 1995 in Catalonia, genetic analysis did not find a close match with any known ASF strains currently circulating in Europe, and no source of introduction was identified. Another translocation event was also detected in Germany.
In several countries, such as Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, a clear winter peak in wild boar outbreaks was observed, while no consistent seasonal pattern was evident in other member states.
More positively, successful regional campaigns to control the disease in wild boar populations took place in Czechia and in southern Italy.
Surveillance
Last year, the EU carried out record levels of ASF surveillance, analysing more than 518,000 samples from domestic pigs and 618,000 samples from wild boar. Passive surveillance detected 84% of ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs and 73% of outbreaks in wild boar.
EFSA’s scientists recommended that affected member states continue to prioritise this type of approach in their monitoring efforts.