The government has already spent more than €3 million to eliminate the consequences of ASF outbreaks, but according to Terras, the mortality rate may continue to rise. The minister stressed that there are currently about 283,000 pigs in the country, and each of them is at risk of infection.
Prime Minister Kristjan Michal was even forced to interrupt his vacation to personally coordinate the response measures. He stated that this is not only a matter of animal husbandry, but also of the country's food security. Exports are also under threat: official data show that in 2024, the Estonian pig industry sold €22 million worth of pork abroad.
The authorities are paying particular attention to protecting the country's largest pig farm, Ekseko, which has about 50,000 animals. The State Agency for Agriculture and Food has imposed a month-long ban on visits to the farm to minimise the risk of the virus spreading. Only employees are allowed access to perform their duties and carry out preventive measures.
In recent weeks, eight pigs have died under suspicious circumstances on the farm, but laboratory tests have confirmed the absence of ASF. At the same time, the head of the agency, Raimo Heinam, stressed that in the event of an outbreak at Ekseko, it would take years for the company to recover from the blow.
Thus, African swine fever has posed a serious challenge to the Estonian pig industry: the country is balancing between massive losses, the threat to exports and the need to protect key production facilities.
PigUA.info based on materials from pigprogress.net