The World Organization for Animal Health shared that a wild boar has tested positive for African Swine Fever (ASF) near the city Rüsselsheim in Hessen, the state around Frankfurt-am-Main. The animal, which was found on 14 June, was culled. The area is about 500 km from the Polish border and not directly connected with areas previously infected with ASF.
A restriction zone has been established around the location. According to Top Agrar, in this region there are 76 pig farms with a total of 5,600 pigs. Many of them are relatively small, but one of the farms reportedly has 2,000 pigs on site.
This is not the first case of ASF in western Germany – 2 previous cases have recently been reported in domestic pigs on farms. In those cases – in the states Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg – culling the pigs on those farms was sufficient to get the virus under control. In this case, it is more complex as it is unknown where the virus might be in a wild boar population.
Even though pig production is taking place all over Germany, the state of Hessen is not the top state for swine production. Heavy concentrations of swine farms can be found in Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia, more to the north.
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