Swine fever broke out in Germany - thousands of animals have to be killed

The first case of African swine fever (ASF) in Germany is now official.

A suspicion has now been confirmed.

Berlin - The African swine fever (ASF) occurred for the first time in a domestic pig population in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

As the Federal Ministry of Agriculture announced in Berlin, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) detected the animal disease in samples on Monday.

At first it was just a suspicion.

Several fattening pigs in a fattening farm in the Rostock district had perished.

A clear result of the PCR tests is now available.

All animals in the herd must now be killed and, according to the ministry, "disposed of".

African swine fever in Germany reaches Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) wants to inform about the results of the investigation and the consequences of the outbreak at a press conference on Tuesday.

Further research would be ongoing.

"In this context, Minister Backhaus warns the pig-keeping farms to keep the bio-safety measures at the highest level", can be read on the ministry website.

There could also be further restrictions for the export of pork, reports the NDR.

The prices for pork are already in the basement.

African swine fever (ASF) - first occurred in Brandenburg and Saxony

So far there had been no cases of ASF in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - neither in wild boars nor in domestic pigs.

On September 10, 2020, a first case of ASF was confirmed in a wild boar in Germany.

Since then there have been several cases in Brandenburg in wild and domestic pigs and in Saxony in wild boars.

In July, cases in three domestic pig herds in Brandenburg were detected for the first time, as reported by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Exclusion zones were established at that time and the pigs in the affected herds were killed.

Is African Swine Fever (ASF) dangerous to humans?

African swine fever is harmless to humans.

In contrast, the disease is dangerous for wild and domestic pigs and is almost always fatal.

It can be transmitted through direct contact between animals or indirectly through contaminated objects such as shoes or discarded food.

The animal disease has been rampant in Eastern Europe for a long time.

Protective fences have therefore been erected on the border with Poland.