Companies in Brandenburg affected: African swine fever in domestic pigs

Up until now, African swine fever had only occurred in wild boars in Germany – now it has also been found in domestic pigs. Two companies in Brandenburg are affected.

African swine fever was first detected in domestic pigs in Germany. Stocks in the Brandenburg districts of Spree-Neisse and Märkisch Oderland are affected, as the state’s consumer protection ministry announced at night.

Holdings blocked

Both stocks were immediately blocked by the veterinary offices after the findings. According to the ministry, the affected farm in the Spree-Neisse district has 200 pigs. They would all be killed and “disposed of,” it said. The affected population in Märkisch Oderland is therefore a small-scale holding with only two animals.

According to the information, the virus in the domestic pigs was initially detected by the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory. On Thursday evening, the findings were then confirmed by the national reference laboratory, the Friedrich Löffler Institute.

The Brandenburg consumer protection minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) said it was now important to find the cause of the transmission of the virus to the domestic pigs as quickly as possible. The relevant investigations have been initiated.

So far only in wild boars

So far, African swine fever in Brandenburg had been found in a total of 1267 wild boars. Domestic pigs, on the other hand, were not previously affected. To ward off the wave of infections coming from Poland, the Brandenburg authorities had a solid fence built along the Oder and Neisse rivers.

Not contagious to humans

The virus is not contagious or dangerous to humans or other animal species. It cannot be transmitted to humans either through the consumption of pork or through contact with animals. For the affected pigs, however, the disease is usually fatal