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The number of wild boars that fell victim to the African swine fever virus in Germany has exceeded 3,000. Shortly before the start of the new year, the number of infected animals is 3,092.
A wild boar piglet that died of ASF. – Photo: Petr Satran, Czech State Veterinary Agency
This number comes from the reports from the authorities of the various infected federal states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the 3 countries that all border on Poland, another 257 carcasses tested positive for the African Swine Fever virus (ASF).
The interactive one Progress in the pig The map below shows the spread of the virus in wild boars in the cluster on the German-Polish border on December 30, 2021
When zooming out, the general picture is that most of the outbreaks occurred relatively close to the border with Poland, with 2 major exceptions. A number of outbreaks have been detected in Saxony since October of this year north of the city of Dresden, in a zone in the Meißen district, about 80 km inland. This prompted the local authorities to set up and already enlarge a new core zone there, with fences in order to ideally block the further movement of (infected) wild boars. So far, 18 infected victims have been located there.
Something similar happened in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, about 80-85km south of Rostock. So far, 7 wild boar carcasses have been found in this area, the last of them on 2.nd from December. This zone is about 150 km west of the border with Poland.
Complication of the ASF control strategy
These two outbreaks off the Polish border together form a complication of the German strategy to build a border corridor against the influx of ASF-positive wild boars. After the situation across the border had been under control, the corridor with a double fence should have protected the country from the pressure of epidemics in Poland.
ASF on pig farms in Germany
A total of 4 companies in Germany were infected with ASF in 2021. Three of them in the state of Brandenburg were relatively small, but the 4that, an apparently isolated case in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in mid-November, had almost 4,000 pigs on site.
ASF situation in western Poland
Across the border, in western Poland, the cluster spreads in practically all directions. Where the first outbreaks occurred in November 2019 in a village called Tarnów Jezierny in the eastern Lubusz province, the main activity of the virus is now occurring in a wide area around this original location. This means that outbreaks can be found in the north, along the border with Germany, around 30 km from the city of Szczecin, in the south up to 15 km from the border with the Czech Republic – and also in the east, where the province of Opole is also located reported their first occurrence as many cases were found east of Wroclaw in November and December 2021.
ASF on pig farms in Poland
Last but not least: the virus is also present all over Poland, as it has been detected in wild boars in eastern Poland since 2014. It has resulted in a record 124 pig farms across the country, some of them small, some of them commercial size. The previous record was reached in 2020 with 103 infected farms.
The largest Polish farm infected with ASF in 2021 was in Lebusz province in March when the virus hit a farm with almost 16,000 pigs. A total of 7 of the 124 farms had more than 1,000 animals on site.
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