Swine fever confirmed in wild boar in Germany

Admin I Sunday, June 16, 2024

HESSE – African swine fever has been detected in a wild boar in Germany’s western state of Hesse, marking the first confirmed case in the state.

After the dying animal was shot, the B sample from a test came back positive, the spokesman for the German Hunting Association, Torsten Reinwald, told dpa on Saturday.

The Hessian Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture confirmed the positive test result and announced the establishment of a restricted zone with a general ban on hunting within a 15-kilometre radius of the discovery site. This zone includes the cities of Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Hesse’s two largest cities.

According to Reinwald, the virus was likely spread by humans. The local veterinary office and numerous hunters are currently searching for other affected animals.

African swine fever is a contagious viral infection that affects wild and domestic pigs and usually leads to death within a week.

There is no cure or preventative vaccine to protect the animals. The disease can be transmitted directly from pig to pig or indirectly through contaminated objects such as clothing and shoes as well as feed.

The disease cannot be transmitted to humans. In Germany, African swine fever was first detected in September 2020 in a dead wild boar in Brandenburg, the German state that surrounds the capital Berlin.

Reinwald said that the main areas of spread in Germany have been Brandenburg and Saxony, with isolated cases also reported in the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north and the Baden-Württemberg in the country’s south west.