Two more outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) have been confirmed in domestic pigs in Hesse, in Germany, according to pig industry body ISN.
The virus was initially detected in June in wild boar in this brand new area of Germany, in the west of the country, near Frankfurt and not far from the country’s borders with France and Belgium.
The virus was detected on a smallholding in early July and then, it was announced on July 18, on a pig farm with 1,100 animals in the Groß-Gerau district of the region.
The Hessian Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday (July 23) that two further outbreaks have now occurred in farms, reportedly with 17 and 170 pigs, located in the southern district of Groß-Gerau and thus in Hesse’s existing restriction zone in Hesse.
ISN reports that the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture had asked all pig farms in the region to examine their herds daily for signs of disease and to report them immediately to the district veterinary office and that this process resulted in the discovery of the latest two outbreaks.
“One dead animal was reported in the smaller herd. In the larger farm, the owner noticed several conspicuous animals. The district veterinary office immediately took samples, which were confirmed as positive by the state laboratory that evening. Both pig herds must be killed for reasons of disease control,” ISN said.
The repeated outbreaks in domestic pig populations are highly concentrated in the southern district of Groß-Gerau, illustrating the extremely high viral load in the area around the Knoblochsaue and the Kühkopf, according to the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture
The high viral load had already been predicted by the EU veterinary mission, which had taken a look at the crisis work in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate around two weeks ago, ISN added.
“In order to limit the spread of the epidemic, it is very important that the population and agriculture adhere to the current restrictions. All pig farms are still required to comply with the strictest biosecurity measures and to continuously monitor their stocks,” it said.
Since the disease first hit Germany in September 2020, it has been largely contained to the north-east of the country, close to the Polish border, which is why the Hesse outbreaks represent a concerning development and have raised questions about how the virus got there.
The domestic outbreaks come as a further blow to Germany’s efforts to regain lost export markets.