‘We are talking about a crisis at the national level. The entire production chain will be destroyed, and the farm's operations will be suspended for a long time,’ said Priit Dreiman, a member of the board of Maag Agro, the farm's owner.
According to the Estonian Veterinary and Food Board, since the beginning of summer, 125 cases of ASF have been detected among wild boars and 10 on pig farms, with the virus affecting more than 54,000 pigs in total. Outbreaks are most commonly recorded between June and September, when the virus is most active.
ASF is not dangerous to humans, but it is extremely contagious to pigs and wild boars. There is no cure for the disease, and the only way to stop its spread is to completely destroy the infected livestock.
Strict measures and protests
The authorities have tightened biosecurity measures: the movement of pigs is prohibited, disinfection of equipment and footwear is mandatory, and access to infected areas is restricted. Local residents are urged to report dead wild boars and, if possible, to attach photos for faster identification.
However, not everyone supports the measures. At another farm, Nurme, protesters tried to stop the mass culling of pigs, which led to a delay in work until the final results of tests from a laboratory in Spain were received. At the same time, farmers are facing not only financial losses but also serious psychological pressure. The authorities have promised to provide psychosocial support to the affected farms.
Prices and the market
Despite the crisis, supermarket shelves remain full and pork prices are stable for now. About 70% of the meat on the domestic market is locally produced, with the rest coming mainly from Latvia, which has not been affected by this outbreak.
Experts emphasise that the situation clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of the industry: even a high level of digitalisation and modern protection technologies are not able to completely protect farms from a dangerous virus that spreads easily through wild animals, transport and contaminated equipment.
Although the extent of the damage is still being calculated, it is already clear that this epidemic will pose a serious challenge for Estonia, not only for the agricultural sector but also for the country's food security.
PigUA.info based on materials from estonianworld.com