Is the spread of the African swine fever virus in Eastern Europe and Belgium decreasing or increasing? And will an effective vaccine become available sooner than expected? Expert Willie Loeffen of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research gives his view on the current state of affairs.
In Poland, a new outbreak was reported last week at a pig farm in the northeastern region of the country. "The situation is more or less endemic throughout Eastern Europe. This general picture remains the same," says Loeffen. "You can see that it goes up and down in time."
Faster test
In Belgium, for the first time last week, no new case was reported in the isolated environment where African swine fever is prevalent among wild boars. "But in the preceding weeks, the virus seemed to spread more to the edges in the isolated area," Loeffen notes.
He closely follows the news about high death rates among wild boars in the Hoge Veluwe. "Fortunately, testing can be done faster than in the past. It is not about African swine fever. It is not yet clear what the cause is."
Increased risk due to tourism
Loeffen believes that the Dutch authorities are doing everything that is reasonably possible to prevent the introduction of African swine fever in the Netherlands. With regard to cleaning measures for international livestock transport, but also towards tourists who pose an increased risk in the summer months because of food residues spreading the virus. They are explicitly warned about this.
In recent years, outbreaks of African swine fever have been reported more often in summer than in winter. In Belgium, the infection probably started in the summer of last year, although it was only discovered in September. Loeffen does not have a precise explanation for this. It may play a role that the wild boars give birth to piglets in the spring and early summer, which then increase the chance of the virus spreading.
EU vaccine research takes more time
Loeffen does not assume that an effective and safe vaccine will reach the European market faster than expected. "Due to the disastrous effects in Asia, developments there are accelerating. Much more money is being spent on research than before. But in Europe, registration of a vaccine takes a lot of time. Research into the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine is rightly very important That just takes a lot of time."
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