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The permanent fence of the border between the state of Brandenburg in Germany and Poland is almost complete. In a press release, the minister responsible said he was optimistic.
Brandenburg is one of two East German border states that have detected African swine fever (ASF) in its wild boar population. This weekend, the tally was 861 cases in that state alone since the outbreaks began in September 2020. These have been found in 3 central areas.
To the south, the virus is also found in the state of Saxony, where 98 infected wild boars have been found. 1 other German state borders Poland: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This state has also built a permanent fence at the border, although no case of ASF in wild boar has been found there.
A healthy wild boar in a European forest. – Photo: Canva
A stable epidemic in Germany
Last week, Anna Heyer-Stuffer, Brandenburg State Secretary for Consumer Protection, said the fence in Brandenburg state was “nearing completion” and was optimistic about the PPA situation she said. called it a “stable epidemic”, stressing that all new outbreaks have occurred in already infected areas and do not appear to be spreading further. In addition, she said that talks are underway with the German Federal Government to establish safe zones on German soil as an alternative to a common “white zone” with Poland.
White areas are an essential part of the European Union’s approach to controlling ASF in wild boar. The idea is to fence off the infected areas, the next is to fence off a corridor (“white area”) around the infected area, where all wild boars will be actively hunted. The idea is that this way the virus cannot escape other boars. Once the white areas are completely devoid of boar, hunters will enter the infected area to finish off any other boar.
With the majority of infected areas in Germany literally on the border, the creation of white zones would be a transnational problem, including a river. In addition, in contrast to the Polish provinces of Lubusz and West Pomerania, the spread of the virus does not appear to be under control at all.
ASF situation in Märkisch-Oderland
It is only in the northernmost infected area of ​​Germany, in the district of Märkisch-Oderland, that the situation is not yet completely under control, according to the German agricultural title. Top Agrar. Even though movable electronic fences were installed to create white areas, the construction of permanent fences was delayed due to the discovery of ammunition in these areas.
The map above shows the situation as reported by Polish and German authorities last week. From Germany, no new data has reached the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), so it is not possible at the moment to present new outbreaks. In absolute terms, Brandenburg reported 30 new infections, bringing the total to 861 and Saxony reported 7 new infections, bringing the total to 98.
On the Polish side, the figures for March continue to arrive. The total number of infected wild boars in western Poland has risen to 4,380 since November 2019. The majority of outbreaks occur in the province of Lubusz, located opposite the state of Brandenburg in Germany. In this state alone, 3,730 infected wild boars were found.
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