African swine fever: Events in Brandenburg and Saxony remain dynamic

Submitted by Fleischportal.de am , Published in Production & Animal Health

Since the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the wild boar stocks of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony, many other helpers have been working tirelessly in addition to the employees of the responsible authorities - also over the holidays. Including the Federal Agency for Technical Relief and the German Armed Forces. They support the search for sick or dead animals in the affected restricted areas. The aim is to combat ASF, to spare the animals the suffering of the disease and to prevent domestic pigs from being infected by wild boars on farms. So far, the domestic pig stocks in Germany are ASF-free. Farmers are also required to ensure that their domestic pigs do not come into contact with wild boars and domestic pigs from other farms and that they store feed and bedding safely protected from wild boars. In Germany, these are still free of ASP. The disease is also harmless to humans.

The situation with wild boar in the affected areas of Brandenburg and Saxony remains dynamic. Total were so far 480 virus-positive cadavers (in Brandenburg 463, in Saxony 17) have been identified. In addition, a suspected ASF case in a wild boar from Potsdam - and thus outside the previous restriction zones - is currently being investigated. In view of this situation, Federal Minister Julia Klöckner is appealing not only for the measures against wild boar, but also for efforts to seal off domestic pig stocks from the outside with effective measures.

In addition to the search for fallen game, traps and shots are used in fenced-in areas in order to interrupt contact with animals that are still healthy through a wild boar-free area and thus stop the spread. The erection of wildlife protection fences both around core areas and along the German-Polish border is an important measure for this. For example, 63 kilometers were set up along the border in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 127 kilometers in Brandenburg and 56 kilometers in Saxony. Temporary mobile electric fences are gradually being replaced by permanent fences.

However, the authorities keep reporting that fence systems are being vandalized. In addition, lattice gates or gates that are on dirt roads, for example, would not be closed again after driving through. Federal Minister Julia Klöckner is annoyed: "Vandalism on the fences is a major threat to the success of disease control. That is frightening and can have far-reaching consequences. Destroying these protective measures is neither a test of courage nor a trivial offence. In order to prevent the spread, we must everyone must comply with the applicable regulations."

regionalization
After the first occurrence of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar in Germany on September 10, 2020, numerous third countries, including the People's Republic of China, blocked Germany from exporting pork. For years, the federal government has been negotiating intensively with all relevant trading partners, especially with the People's Republic of China, about regionalization. As part of these negotiations, the BMEL sent a comprehensive Chinese catalog of questions to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture last year. Among other things, it deals with the measures taken to ensure that African swine fever does not spread further, the prevention of new entries to Germany and the early detection of ASF outbreaks in the wild and domestic pig population in Germany. China has not yet responded to the questionnaire.

background objects: The principle of regionalization is recognized internationally (EU, OIE) in order to be able to continue trading in safe products from areas free of the animal disease in the event of an outbreak of an animal disease such as ASF. So far, neither the EU nor any other member state has succeeded in getting the PRC to accept regionalization with regard to ASF.

Source: BmEL

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