Hungary has become the latest European country to report African swine fever in domestic pigs.
The Hungarian authorities ordered the culling of 3,000 pigs on a farm after the virus was reported in domestic pigs for the first time in the country, the National Food Chain Safety Office said in a statement on Thursday.
According to a report by Reuters, the virus was reported on a farm in the village of Vallaj, in the eastern county of Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg. The food safety authority has designated a protection and surveillance zone around the location.
“The culling of the herd of approximately 3,000 pigs is underway, and an epidemiological investigation to determine the origin of the infection and its possible further spread is also taking place,” the authority said.
According to the Central Statistics Office, Hungary had about 2.9 million domestic pigs at the end of 2025. The food safety authority said that the outbreak could cause significant economic damage.
EU ASF cases
The number outbreaks recorded in domestic pigs across the EU increased by 76% to 585 in 2025, according to the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) latest annual epidemiological report. The increase was largely driven by Romania, which accounted for 81% (476) of all domestic EU outbreaks last year. The next highest was Croatia with 53 outbreaks.
In 2025 nine EU countries reported ASF outbreaks in wild boar and domestic pigs – Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Hungary was one of five more, also including Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany and Spain, to report cases in wild boar only.