0
The latest data from the European Union's Animal Disease Notification System (ADNS) regarding the presence of African swine fever in wild boar is not very encouraging. A total of 4,476 outbreaks were reported during the first quarter of this year. Considering that in 2019 the total number of outbreaks reached 6,407, the figures for the first three months are worrisome.
ASF outbreaks in the EU, Q1 2020
| # Outbreaks | Pigs/Wild boar 2014 |
Pigs/Wild boar 2015 |
Pigs/Wild boar 2016 |
Pigs/Wild boar 2017 |
Pigs/Wild boar 2018 |
Pigs/Wild boar 2019 |
Pigs/Wild boar 1st Q 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 2/24 | 1/52 | 20/80 | 81/741 | 109/2443 | 48/2468 | 2/1976 |
| Latvia | 32/148 | 10/752 | 3/864 | 8/947 | 10/685 | 1/369 | 0/91 |
| Lithuania | 6/45 | 13/111 | 19/303 | 30/1.328 | 51/1446 | 19/464 | 0/76 |
| Estonia | 0/41 | 18/723 | 6/1052 | 3/637 | 0/231 | 0/80 | 0/20 |
| Czech Rep. | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/202 | 0/28 | 0/0 | eradicated |
| Romania | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/0 | 1164/182 | 1724/683 | 203/411 |
| Hungary | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/138 | 0/1598 | 0/1536 |
| Bulgaria | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/5 | 44/165 | 16/207 |
| Belgium | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/163 | 0/482 | 0/3 |
| Slovakia | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 11/27 | 0/57 |
| Serbia | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 18/0 | 0/40 |
| Greece | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Not only has the number of outbreaks increased in wild boar, the disease has also entered Greece, which had previously remained free of the disease. Greece reported its first outbreak this February on a backyard farm in Serres, some 60 km from the Bulgarian border.
The situation has worsened in Poland, both in terms of the increased number of cases in wild boar and in the location of the outbreaks, for both domestic pigs and wild boar. With regard to outbreaks in wild boar, there has been a noticeable increase, with 1,976 outbreaks already confirmed so far this year (2,468 outbreaks in 2019) and a significant geographical leap, which started at the end of 2019 towards the west of the country and has continued, with numerous outbreaks in wild boar just a few kilometres from the German border. Although only two outbreaks were detected in domestic animals during the first quarter, they were located in this new area in the west of the country, the first on a commercial farm with more than 23,000 animals and the second was a secondary outbreak related to the first.
Also of concern is the increased number of outbreaks in wild boar in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, where in some cases the number of outbreaks during the first quarter of this year already exceeds the 2019 total; and in the case of Serbia, no cases in wild boar had been reported previously, but now 40 outbreaks have been confirmed.
Estonia has the opposite situation with a downward trend, and no cases reported in domestic animals since 2018 with only 20 outbreaks in wild boar so far this year.
ASF outbreaks in wild boar in the EU
April 20, 2020/ 333 Staff with information from ADNS.
