Status: 07/02/2022 1:56 p.m
In Lower Saxony there is a first case of African swine fever in domestic pigs. A company in Emsland is affected, as Minister of Agriculture Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU) announced.
“Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time,” said the minister on Saturday afternoon 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 keeps 280 sows and around 1,500 piglets. All animals would be killed on Sunday to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF). Everything is being done to contain the outbreak.
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Exclusion zone around the company: 300 owners with 200,000 animals affected
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.
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.
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. 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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