Fewer African swine fever infections

The number of outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the European Union will have decreased in 2022, the European Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (EFSA) concludes. The number of outbreaks decreased in both wild boar and pig populations. The disease has been detected in pigs in 8 EU countries and in wild boars in 11 EU countries.

The fact that the number of infections is declining does not mean that the threat to the pork sector is over, EFSA's director of operations Bernhard Url writes in a press release. AVP has disrupted the European pork sector for the past ten years. Although the measures against the virus appear to be effective, the overall picture in the EU is still not positive, according to Url.

On average, the number of outbreaks decreased by no less than 79% compared to 2021. The decrease was strongest in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. Outbreaks occurred among pigs in Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland Romania and Slovakia.

Romania most affected
The number of wild boar outbreaks in the EU decreased by 40% compared to 2021. This is the first decrease in the number of wild boar outbreaks since 2014. Romania had the most outbreaks with 327 cases. No less than 87% of all outbreaks within the EU occurred in the Eastern European country. In addition, four countries bordering the EU experienced outbreaks, namely Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Matthew Bremer

Matthijs is a meat market specialist at DCA Market Intelligence. He covers the pork, beef, and chicken markets in all their facets and is happy to explain these developments in presentations and interviews.

m.bremer@foodbusiness.nl

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