In addition to the border areas of the municipalities of Virolahti and Miehikkälä, a larger part of the municipality of Lappeenranta has now been included in the expanded core zone.
The inner zone now stretches for around 30 km along the Russian border and is approximately 5 km wide.
New Cases Detected in Lappeenranta
The expansion was prompted by the discovery of new carcasses of ASF-infected wild boar north of Virolahti.
Of the 44 confirmed cases, 36 were recorded in Virolahti, five in Lappeenranta and two in Miehikkälä, which lies between the two municipalities.
The five cases in Lappeenranta were detected near the village of Hujakkala.
Another positive case was recorded much farther west in the municipality of Pyhtää in late August. It is apparently being treated as an isolated case, as the core zone was not expanded in that direction.
Situation on the russian Side of the Border Remains Unclear
As most ASF cases in Finland are concentrated along the border with russia, the report suggests that the virus may have entered the country from that direction.
At the same time, the current ASF situation on the russian side of the border remains unclear. russia’s most recent updates to the World Organisation for Animal Health date from 31 January 2025 and concerned the closure of outbreaks in regions located thousands of kilometres from Finland.
No ASF cases have so far been recorded on commercial pig farms in Finland.
PigUA.info, based on materials from foodagribusiness.world