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African swine fever also threatens pig fattening
Photo: Martin Wagner / imago images / Martin Wagner
After the occurrence of African swine fever (ASF) in a fattening farm near Güstrow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the clearing of the entire herd began.
As a spokeswoman for the Rostock district said in Güstrow, the approximately 4,000 pigs are to be killed and disposed of within three days by a specialist company under the greatest safety precautions.
The animals are therefore brought in separate containers to an animal body disposal facility in the Mecklenburg Lake District.
The aim is that as far as possible no animal disease pathogens get outside the affected facility, it said.
On Monday evening, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, as the federal reference laboratory, confirmed that pigs in the farm near Güstrow had died of African swine fever.
How the virus got into the company is still unclear, it said.
The Rostock district had already established a three-kilometer restricted area and a ten-kilometer observation area.
There stocks are specially checked, but so far no new cases have become known.
The district of Rostock called on pig farmers to notify the veterinary office of animal herds that have not yet been reported.
hba / dpa
