ASF Germany: Commercial farm with 1,100 finishers infected
A 2nd pig farm has been infected with African Swine Fever (ASF) in the western German state Hesse, near Frankfurt am Main. This time the virus was found in a commercial finisher farm, having 1,129 pigs on-site.
The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) reported that the virus was found near Stockstadt am Rhein in the district Groß-Gerau. That is within the known infected zone.
The ministry of Agriculture of the state Hesse reported that in total 3 dead pigs were reported to the veterinary authorities on Wednesday, July 17. An additional 10 other animals were said to have shown symptoms. The state laboratory confirmed the suspicion, hence the entire farm population will have to be culled.
First outbreak in Hesse
The 1st outbreak in Hesse happened on 8 July. That farm only had 9 pigs on-site. In the meantime, the number of infected wild boar has grown to 38, the state authorities report. In total 192 wild boar carcasses have been tested. All infected carcasses were found in the Groß-Gerau district.
The outbreaks in the state Hesse and in the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate form a new chapter in the outbreaks of ASF in Germany. The country has had infections in its wild boar population along the eastern border with Poland since 2020. Apart from 2 incidental occurrences of infections on farms near the French and Dutch borders, the virus never made it to the western part of the country, until this summer.
In total, since 2020, now 11 farms with domestic pigs have got infected in the whole of Germany.
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