Background African Swine Fever
AVP: Despite measures, outbreak is lurking
In 2020, the African swine fever (ASF) will also keep people busy. In the meantime, the virus has spread from Eastern Europe almost to Germany. In the meantime, Belgium has been battling the animal disease for almost a year and a half.
In 2018, AVP unexpectedly appeared in Belgium. At the end of 2019, it turned out that the virus had made a big jump through Poland; at the beginning of December, the infectious disease was diagnosed in wild boars in western Poland, just 20 kilometers from the German border. The question is: how long will Germany be able to remain ASF-free? It seems almost insurmountable that the virus will cross the German border sooner or later. Effective vaccines are not yet on the market.
Fence on German border
Nevertheless, our eastern neighbors are taking measures to keep the virus at bay. Shortly after the outbreak in western Poland, the state of Brandenburg announced that it wanted to place a fence on the Polish-German border in order to keep out infected wild boars. The construction of the fence was not long in coming. At the beginning of January a video came out that the start of construction is a fact. Yet a fence offers no security.
The advance of infected wild boars is not the only entry route. A half-eaten ham sandwich that someone throws on the roadside also poses a danger. After all, the meat can be contaminated with the ASF virus. If a wild boar eats this, there is a good chance that the animal will become infected. This allows the virus to make big leaps and appear in the Netherlands before it even crosses the German border. In short: an outbreak is looming.
financial noose
Slaughterhouses face a major problem in the event of an outbreak. This is because the export destinations outside Europe will probably largely disappear. This would be a financial blow to Dutch or German pig farming. The advancing ASF fear in Europe alone is not doing pig prices any good. For example, pig prices dropped significantly at the beginning of 2020, because slaughterhouses are reluctant to build up frozen stocks. In the event of an outbreak, this will most likely result in a significant loss of value.
French measures (for now) effective
Belgium has been battling African swine fever for almost a year and a half now. Nearly 830 infected wild boars have now been located in the province of Luxembourg. France has managed to keep the virus at bay for quite some time. To this day, no infected wild boars have been found on the French side of the border. The measures taken by the French government to date appear to be effective for the time being. They conduct an intensive wild boar hunting program along the border region with the Belgian Ardennes.
Set a good example, you might say. The German state of Bavaria has significantly increased the premium for shooting wild boars. The boars are followed by drones, after which the movement is reported to the hunters. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia also wants to carry out a rigorous hunt for wild boars if the virus is detected in Germany.
The measures taken by neighboring countries therefore seem to be working, but the danger for the Netherlands has certainly not passed. Being vigilant seems to be the only option for Dutch pig farming at the moment. An outbreak is literally lurking.
Jorine Cosse
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