The swine fever reached Baden-Württemberg last week. After almost half of the animals died from the disease in one farm, the situation now seems to have calmed down.
Forchheim (dpa / lsw) - A week after the outbreak of swine fever in a farm in Forchheim (Emmendingen district), no further cases of the disease occurred in Baden-Württemberg. The pathogen was not initially found in wild boar either, as the Ministry of Agriculture announced on request.
Last Wednesday, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), which is responsible for animal diseases, found the virus in two dead animals in the Forchheim company. 16 animals had died in agony on the farm. The remaining animals were killed. It was initially unclear how the pathogen got into the company. It is assumed that the entry was made by human action, as the ministry announced.
A protection zone with a minimum radius of three kilometers and an adjoining surveillance zone with an outer radius of ten kilometers were set up around the affected facility in Forchheim. There are 59 pig farms in these zones. These are initially forbidden to bring pigs in or out of the exclusion zone. In the affected area, dogs and drones are still being used to search for infested wild boar. As of Wednesday, no affected animal had been found.
"Don't leave any food or leftovers behind when hiking or spending time in nature," Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk (CDU) called on the population. This can prevent the spread of the disease. Nevertheless, pork can be eaten without hesitation, Hauk explained last week.
African swine fever (ASF) is a severe viral infection that only affects wild boar and domestic pigs. It is almost always fatal in animals and cannot be cured. The disease is harmless to humans or other animal species. First it had spread in Eastern Europe. On September 10, 2020, a first case of ASF was confirmed in a wild boar in Germany. Since then, ASF cases have occurred in Brandenburg (wild and domestic pigs) and in Saxony (wild pigs) and in 2021 also in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (wild and domestic pigs).
