African swine fever campaign extended for a third year

The campaign ‘Stop African swine fever’ has been extended for the third consecutive year.

It is run in partnership with local authorities in 18 countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

“The spread of African swine fever continues at an alarming rate, with recent outbreaks in Italy and two sporadic outbreaks in Germany, close to the borders of France and the Netherlands respectively,” said EFSA’s Executive Director Bernhard Url.

“African swine fever is not confined to wild boar in Eastern and Central Europe.

“It is a global issue that poses a significant threat to pigs, farmers and the pork industry and needs to be tackled by all of us together.”

Bernard Van Goethem, DG Sante’s director for crisis preparedness in food, animals and plant, said spreading information about the disease was paramount in stopping its spread.

“Thanks to strong actions on the ground, coupled with ongoing information campaigns, the EU has managed to eradicate ASF in a number of countries in recent years, namely Czechia and Belgium,” he said.

“However, we must not lower our guard as new outbreaks are reported regularly.”

With the assistance of local farmers’ groups, veterinary organisations, hunting associations, and other relevant bodies, the campaign aims to raise awareness about how to prevent the spread of disease.

There are currently no approved vaccines for African swine fever in Europe, so an outbreak can necessitate the slaughter of large numbers of farm-kept pigs in affected areas.