In the west of Belarus, African swine fever (ASF) has been detected in a small pig farm in a village 150 km from the Polish border. Previously, ASF had broken out from time to time in the Russian pig centers, mainly in the south and east. Until now, the fear was that the route to Europe would be via the Black Sea to Romania, from where it could be spread further. Now the disease has moved much closer to the European border. There is a risk that the disease could quickly spread to eastern Germany via tourism, freight transport or even changing herds of wild boar.
ASF is considerably more dangerous than European swine fever (ESP). The fatalities are much more serious. There are no vaccines in this country. The only solution is mass culling, a measure that should actually be a thing of the past.
The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Agriculture is urging people not to bring any products with or from pork from Belarus. In addition, all pig farmers and breeders are requested to strictly adhere to hygiene and documentation regulations in order to be able to quickly limit the spread of the disease in the worst case scenario.
