Italy reports African swine fever outbreak

African swine fever has emerged in northern Italy in a wild boar, the country's authorities have announced. This is a loss for Italian meat exports.

The animal was found in the Piedmont region, about 120 kilometers southwest of Milan. After African swine fever was suspected, the wild boar was examined and the virus was diagnosed. Protocols were drawn up in Italy when the virus appeared in Germany a few years ago. One of the measures is that the wild boar population is now being contained to prevent further outbreaks.

Italy has approximately nine million pigs, making it the seventh largest pig producer in the European Union. In 2020, the country exported 144.000 tons of pork with an underlying export value of around €700 million. It is likely that Asian markets such as China and Japan will not import pork from Italy for the time being, which is an unpleasant consequence for the pig sector in the country.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.