Germany’s Pig Virus Battle Worsens as Case Reaches New Area
Germany’s Battle With Pig Virus Worsens as Case Reaches New Area
(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s fight to contain a fatal pig virus is growing more difficult after an infected wild boar was found about 60 kilometers (38 miles) outside the area initially affected.
Two additional boar were confirmed positive for African swine fever, bringing the outbreak to 38 wild animals since it first struck Europe’s top pork producer three weeks ago, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday. While all cases remain in the Brandenburg state, one of the new findings was in a pig shot by a hunter in Maerkisch Oderland, outside the prior containment zone and near the Polish border.
“The state of Brandenburg must now adapt the existing protection zones and protective measures accordingly in order to prevent the disease from spreading,” the ministry said. The state government said it’s now treating the outbreak as “two separate epidemic events” and cautioned that infections remain “highly dynamic” in neighboring Poland.
Germany already has gone to extreme lengths to control the disease, which isn’t harmful to humans but is highly infectious and often deadly for hogs. That includes bringing in search-dog teams, building fences, and deploying drones and helicopters with thermal-imaging technology to scour for boar.
Most of its hog herd is raised indoors and although ASF hasn’t hit any farms, key buyers including China and South Korea have slapped import bans on German products, sending the nation’s wholesale pork prices to a four-year low. Pig prices have also slumped in several neighboring nations as the European Union grapples with the extra supply.
Germany, whose key livestock region is located further west, can still trade within the bloc.
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