The new carcasses were discovered on 6 August during a large-scale search of the infected zone near the village of Vaalimaa, close to the Russian border. Representatives of the Finnish Food Authority, Ruokavirasto, and around 100 local hunters are taking part in the search.
The authorities have not yet disclosed the exact number of newly discovered dead animals. It is only known that they were young wild boar.
Earlier, three dead wild boar piglets were found in the same area. The presence of the ASF virus in the animals was confirmed by the European Union Reference Laboratory in Spain. These cases marked the first official detection of African swine fever in Finland.
The local game management association said the new findings were expected. According to its chairman, Kristian Värri, if the virus caused the deaths of the piglets, there is a high probability that other animals from the same group were also infected.
The carcasses were removed from the forest and transported to the disease control centre. Samples were sent to Helsinki for laboratory testing for ASF.
The final test results are expected on 10 August.
Searches for dead wild boar in the outbreak zone are continuing, as detecting and safely disposing of infected carcasses is one of the key measures for limiting the spread of the virus among the wild boar population.
PigUA.info, based on materials from foodagribusiness.world