Status: 03.07.2022 6:40 p.m
After the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in a company in Emsbüren (Emsland), there are no signs of an outbreak in other companies.
This was announced by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture. Laboratory results from random samples from a contact farm are expected on Monday. “Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time,” said Minister Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU) on Saturday during a specially convened press conference in Hanover. This is “a hard emotional blow for the pig farmers in our country”. The farm in Emsbüren kept 280 sows and around 1,500 piglets. All should be killed on Sunday. Everything is being done to contain the outbreak, said Otte-Kinast.
Swine fever in Emsland: Exclusion zone set up around 300 companies
Because the region is one of the areas with the densest livestock nationwide, the ministry has set up a ten-kilometer exclusion zone around the company. In addition to parts of the district of Emsland, this also includes areas of the county of Bentheim. The transport of pigs is initially prohibited within the zone, and all stocks are initially checked regularly for further cases. According to the ministry, around 300 pig farmers with 200,000 animals are affected by the restrictions. It cannot be ruled out that other animals will have to be killed as a precaution.
Counties are preparing orders
The districts of Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim want to publish corresponding decrees that should come into force on Tuesday. This includes, among other things, a stall obligation for pig farms, a ban on the transport of pigs and strict hygiene measures.
Halter had noticed symptoms in breeding sows
According to Otte-Kinast, it is still unclear how ASF could have been introduced into the animal population. The experienced owner noticed symptoms in breeding sows and therefore consulted the farm veterinarian. Because of the suspicion of African swine fever, he sent samples to the State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), which confirmed the suspicion. On Saturday morning, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), which is responsible for animal diseases, verified the finding.
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Great uncertainty among pig farmers in the region
The outbreak has shaken pig farmers in the region. Many are shocked and at a loss as to what to expect, said Georg Meiners from the Emsland country people to the NDR in Lower Saxony. Overall, there is great uncertainty. Many now hoped that this was an isolated case – and that the virus could be stopped by culling all the pigs there. In this case, you only have to wait a certain amount of time – and then everything will be fine again, says Meiners. But if the virus has already spread, it is difficult to contain the situation. “You really only have the option of killing the affected company – and then hoping: ‘We stopped it,'” said Meiners.
Industry hopes for vaccination, associations on the end of intensive farming
The agricultural business association AEF hopes that the outbreak in Emsland will remain an isolated case and is appealing to politicians to provide a vaccine against African swine fever. The environmental organization Greenpeace and the animal welfare association, on the other hand, are calling for a rethink in animal husbandry. In her view, the underlying problem lies in the high density of animals in the region. Infections cannot be controlled there.
ASF first detected in Germany in 2020
The first case of African swine fever in Germany was confirmed on September 10, 2020 – in a wild boar in Brandenburg. Since then, outbreaks have been found in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony. In mid-July last year, swine fever spread to domestic pigs in livestock for the first time in this country – again in Brandenburg.
No vaccine or cure for pigs
ASF is a contagious viral disease in domestic and wild pigs that is almost always fatal and incurable. So far there is no way to protect pigs with preventive vaccination. The disease can be transmitted directly from animal to animal or indirectly by humans to other areas via contaminated objects such as clothing, shoes and food. African swine fever is harmless to humans and other animals.
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