Czech Republic Discovers African Swine Fever in Dead Wild Pig
On Dec. 1, nearly five years after the last case, African swine fever (ASF) virus was confirmed in the Czech Republic in a wild pig. According to the Czech Republic's State Veterinary Administration (SVS), an investigation at the State Veterinary Institute in Prague confirmed the infection in a dead wild piglet found in Jindřichovice pod Smrkek in the Frýdlant region in the Liberec Region, located near the border with Poland, where the infection has been present for a long time.
Although ASF presents no food safety or health risk to humans, it is highly transmissible and deadly in both domestic and wild pigs.
SVS is intiating emergency veterinary measures. A "so-called zone of infection" will be defined around the location of the discovery of the infected pig on an area of approximately 200 square kilometers, the release said.
In this area, wild pig hunting will be temporarily prohibited, the movement of the population in nature will be restricted and the monitoring of the occurrence of the disease in wild pigs will be intensified. The measures will also affect pork producers in the area and operators of slaughterhouses or game plants. In addition, in light of the fundamental change in the infectious situation, the so-called zone of intensive catching of wild pigs in the border areas in the north of the Czech Republic will be abolished, SVS said.
"All the measures taken are primarily aimed at preventing the further spread of the disease in the wild pig population and preventing the disease from reaching domestic pig farms," Petr Šatrán, director of the veterinary section of the SVS, said in the release.
The first case of ASF was discovered in the Czech republic in a population of wild pigs on June 26, 2017.
Immediately after the first confirmation of this deadly virus, in accordance with the legislation of the Czech Republic and the EU, the SVS issued extraordinary veterinary measures aimed at preventing the spread of ASF in the wild pig population and, in particular, to prevent the introduction of the virus into domestic pig farms, its gradual suppression and final eradication. By consistently applying the measures taken, it was possible to prevent the spread of ASF infection in the wild pig population and the introduction of ASF into domestic pig farms.
The last positive cases of ASF were confirmed on Feb. 8, 2018, and on April 15, 2018.
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