African swine fever continues to spread in Germany.
The disease has now been detected in domestic pigs for the first time.
Potsdam - African swine fever (ASF) was first detected in domestic pigs in Germany.
Two stocks in Brandenburg are affected, as the state's consumer protection ministry announced on Friday night (July 16, 2021).
Both stocks were immediately blocked by the veterinary offices after the findings.
According to the information, the virus in the domestic pigs was initially detected by the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory.
On Thursday evening, the findings were then confirmed by the national reference laboratory, the Friedrich Löffler Institute (FLI).
Domestic pigs affected in Brandenburg: African swine fever so far only in wild boars
According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the pigs that tested positive come from an organic farm in the Spree-Neisse district and a small farm in the Märkisch-Oderland district.
According to the ministry, the affected farm in the Spree-Neisse district has 200 pigs.
They would all be killed and "disposed of", it said.
The affected population in Märkisch Oderland was therefore only two animals.
So far, this swine fever has only occurred in wild boars in Germany.
The cases found in domestic pigs are now also in the same districts near the Polish border in which the disease has already been detected in wild pigs *.
Protection and surveillance zones are now to be set up around the farms affected.
The Brandenburg authorities had previously had a solid fence built along the Oder and Neisse rivers to ward off the ASP * coming from Poland.
On September 10, 2020, a first case of ASF was confirmed in a wild boar in Germany.
African swine fever in Germany: not contagious to humans
The Brandenburg consumer protection minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens *) said it was now important to find the cause of the transmission of the virus to the domestic pigs as quickly as possible. The relevant investigations have been initiated and are supported by the Task Force of the State of Brandenburg and specialists from the FLI, who were immediately asked for help. So far, ASF had been found in a total of 1267 wild boars in Brandenburg. Domestic pigs, however, had not been affected so far.
African swine fever is incurable and is almost always fatal for the infected pigs.
There is no way to protect the pigs with preventive vaccination.
According to the Ministry, the disease can be transmitted directly from animal to animal or indirectly, for example via contaminated feed.
Humans therefore also play a decisive role in the spread of the disease.
The virus is not contagious or dangerous for humans or other animal species *.
It cannot be transmitted to humans either through the consumption of pork or through contact with animals.
It is a serious viral infection that only affects pigs - both wild and domestic pigs.
(iwe / afp / dpa)
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