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The number of cases of African swine fever in wild boars in Germany exceeded the 300 mark in mid-December. The total on December 16 is now 302 cases.
The cases were found in eastern Germany in 4 separate and demarcated zones along the border with Poland. 3 of these zones are in the state of Brandenburg, the southern one in the state of Saxony. The falls are found in 4 wards.
As seen in Table 1, the most recently reported cases occurred in the districts of Märkisch-Oderland (northern zone) and Oder-Spree (central zone).
The ASF situation in Germany adds to the Covid-19-related problems. Because of Covid-19, some slaughterhouses had to close temporarily, which led to a “pig jam”. This market situation was exacerbated by the fact that pork cannot be shipped to countries outside the European Union due to ASF in wild boars, which makes successful carcass marketing more and more difficult. It is estimated that the jam consists of around 1 million fattening pigs.
The likelihood of finding ASF infected wild boars increases as the months get colder. – Photo: Petr Satran, Czech State Veterinary Administration
ASF situation in western Poland
The ASF situation for wild boars on the other side of the border is not rosy either. As usual in previous years, the number of wild boar carcasses tested positive for ASF increases in the colder winter months. Data from the Polish General Veterinary Inspection (GVI) show that in western Poland the number of cases rose sharply from October (112) to November (291). The numbers for December have only just arrived.
illustration 1 shows the overall picture for the border area between western Poland and eastern Germany, based on the available data from December 16, 2020. Currently, some first finds from Germany are reported earlier than those from Poland, which is why the number of reports from Germany is now higher than from Poland. Given the pressure of illness on the Polish side, it is likely that the Polish number will increase later.
Where does ASP occur in western Poland?
The vast majority of cases in western Poland occurred in the Lubusz Province, where almost 2,000 infected wild boars have been found since November 2019. The province covers a large border area of ​​more than 100 km from north to south. The Lebusz ASF cases together account for 80% of all positive wild boars found in western Poland.
The first falls were initially concentrated around the village of Konotop, but it appears that most of the “fresh” falls are now found more west, north, and south of the town of Zielona Gora.
ASF has existed across Poland since 2014 and has since spread to most of the provinces in the east of the country. GVI data show that in 2020 alone, wild boars were found in 3,931 locations across Poland. Less than a third (1,127 sites) have so far been in the cluster in western Poland. The number of sites is not identical to the number of infected wild boars found. Sometimes more than one animal is found in one place.
In 2020, a total of 103 pig farms were identified in Poland, from large to small. Of these 12 pig farms were located in western Poland.
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