Researchers are warning that, even with control measures quickly put in place, the U.S. pig industry would be impacted significantly by an outbreak of African swine fever, a disease likely to present a mortality rate of up to 100 percent among infected pigs. An outbreak could cost as much as $80 billion as it spreads through the southeastern U.S., the new study in Preventive Veterinary Medicine finds. Worse, because infected animals may be asymptomatic, the disease could quickly spread from farm to farm before it is detected.

This was reported by the Department of Civil Protection and Defense of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration.

Between-farm movements accounted for 71% of disease transmissions in the model, with local spread and vehicular transmission both contributing about 14% each.

A few days after the discovery of African swine fever (ASF) on a small farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the disease has spread to Croatia.