A closer look at the global state of affairs of AVP

The number of new infections of African Swine Fever is still rising, both in Asia and in Europe. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recently published a report examining the current state of play of the global outbreaks of African Swine Fever.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a disease that occurs on the contiguous continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The virus is endemic in Africa. This means that ASF is constantly present here, even without obvious infections. The OIE report takes a close look at countries that reported an ASF infection for the first time as of 2016. It concerns 9 European countries and 14 Asian countries, each of which can be found in the table below.

Global ASF Outbreaks
The virus is spreading on different levels. For example, in Africa, as far as we know, it is only known among domestic pigs, in Asia the outbreaks are mainly among domestic pigs, with some cases in wild boars, and in Europe the virus is mainly spread among wild boars, with occasional cases on pig farms. . Most outbreaks have been reported in Europe, but in Asia most pigs have died from the virus or have been culled: 82%, more than 6,7 million animals, of the global losses occurred on Asian soil.

A total of 201 countries and areas have reported an ASF infection. About 30% of these countries have indicated that the disease is currently present, according to the OIE in its survey. Most infections have been reported in Europe since 2016. Poland was not included in the investigation, the first report would have been made here in 2014, but the virus recently resurfaced in 2019. Belgium was included, despite the fact that an infected boar was already reported in 1985.

Spread
The spread of ASF has not decreased since 2016, a worrying development according to the OIE. It is particularly striking how quickly the virus has spread in Asia since the first report from China in 2018. At the end of last year and early 2020, the outbreak there finally seemed to be under control, but that improvement also seems to be on the decline. China is currently being hit by severe flooding. According to various sources, the re-spreading of ASF is related to the flooding caused by the floods. For example, the disease would be able to move through the groundwater.

In Europe, there are now and then reports of new infections. These are mainly found among wild boars, but certainly also on pig farms. At the moment most reports come from Poland, close to the border with Germany. The other infections occurred in Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Ukraine, but Greece also recently reported an infection on a small-scale pig farm.

Jorine Cosse

Editor at Boerenbusiness who studies the dairy, pig (meat) and feed markets. Jorine analyzes the roughage market on a weekly basis and periodically the compound feed market.

j.cosse@boerenbusiness. Nl

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