Infectious animal diseases are expanding into new regions and affecting more species, posing serious threats to global food security, human health, and biodiversity. These are the findings of the first-ever State of the World’s Animal Health report, released by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

In the first quarter of 2025, the UK exported 77,800 tonnes of pig meat, marking a 4% year-on-year (YoY) increase. All product categories saw volume growth except bacon, with China emerging as the key driver behind the overall rise.

Bavarian pig farmers will continue to receive financial support in 2025 for implementing animal welfare improvements through the regional BayProTier program. Applications for the new funding period will open on June 1 and remain available until June 30, 2025, via the iBALIS online portal.

Spring is ending with further stabilisation and consolidation of prices on the slaughter pig live market, according to analysts of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, citing the results of the weekly monitoring of purchase prices.

UK supermarket chains Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons have suspended supplies from Northmoor Farm in Lincolnshire following the release of undercover footage revealing severe animal abuse. The farm is owned by Cranswick, one of the UK’s largest pork producers.

The European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed to restore smooth trade in agri-food products — without certification, border checks, or excessive bureaucracy. This outcome was achieved during the first EU–UK summit since Brexit, held in London on May 19.

New research conducted by EFSA in cooperation with German scientific institutions has confirmed that the risk of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) transmission through feed itself is extremely low. Such transmission could only occur under exceptional and rare circumstances.

China’s retaliatory tariffs have dealt a severe blow to the U.S. breeding pig sector, forcing producers to cancel high-value export deals and send top-quality pigs to slaughter for a fraction of their worth.

Canada’s pork industry is grappling with a combination of internal and external pressures — from regional production disputes in Quebec to steep tariffs imposed by China — all of which are fuelling uncertainty across the sector.

The European Parliament voted on Thursday to introduce steep tariffs on fertilisers and certain agricultural imports from Russia and Belarus, aiming to protect EU food security and cut off funding for Russia’s war against Ukraine, Reuters reports.

More than 26,700 animals have been culled in Central Europe since the beginning of 2025 due to outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), according to data from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) presented at a recent EU committee meeting, agronews.ua reports.

Global pork trade flows are undergoing significant changes due to the combined impact of trade tariffs and animal disease outbreaks, according to Rabobank’s Global Pork Quarterly report for Q2 2025. While Brazil and the EU are benefiting from shifting demand, production challenges and consumer uncertainty continue to weigh on global market growth.

The average live pig price in Ukraine has risen by 25% over the past three months — from UAH 74/kg at the end of February to UAH 93/kg in May. According to the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders (AUPB), this price growth stems from a significant reduction in pig numbers, leading to a supply shortage on the domestic market.

France has recorded a significant increase in swine flu outbreaks following the emergence of a new virus genotype — H1N2#E — which has shown the ability to bypass existing immunity. In the year after the genotype first appeared, 661 outbreaks were reported on French pig farms, compared to the previous average of 400 cases annually.

In 2024, the number of African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks among domestic pigs in the European Union dropped by 83% compared to 2023 – from 1,929 to 333 cases. This is according to the latest annual epidemiological report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The decline is largely attributed to fewer outbreaks in Romania and Croatia and marks the lowest annual figure since 2017.

China and South Asia recorded the highest levels of mycotoxin contamination in animal feed during the first quarter of 2025, according to DSM-Firmenich’s global mycotoxin survey. The analysis covered 6,000 feed samples from 70 countries.

African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to spread — albeit slowly — in the region surrounding Frankfurt-am-Main in western Germany. Recent data show that the virus has already caused the death of over 2,000 wild boar in this area alone, and the numbers keep rising.

Despite a direct intervention from former U.S. President Donald Trump, American pork producers have not yet gained access to the lucrative UK market. However, the UK’s National Pig Association (NPA) warns that U.S. efforts to enter the British pork market are far from over.

On May 2, 2025, Slovakia's National Reference Laboratory in Zvolen confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) on a commercial pig farm located in the cadastral area of Dolné Semerovce, Levice district. This marks the first confirmed case of ASF in domestic pigs in the country in 2025.