ASF Germany: Contaminated meat made it to a butcher
Pork contaminated with African Swine Fever virus (ASFv) was delivered from a finishing herd in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to a butcher in Neuruppin, a town at 65 km north west of Berlin.
The Ostprignitz-Ruppin district administration announced this on Thursday (June 13) in a press statement. The meat containing the virus came from a finishing herd in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Last week the news broke that a farm was found infected there on June 5.
Infected meat delivered to butcher
Epidemiological investigations subsequently revealed that 8 days previously, animals from the herd affected by ASF had been slaughtered and then delivered to the butcher in Neuruppin, among others. The district’s authorities ordered an immediate production and sales halt for the butcher while the investigation into the exact whereabouts of the meat is being carried out. The company was able to fully prove the whereabouts of the meat delivery in question. The district commented that the disposal “took place under the supervision of the official veterinarian. After the investigation was completed, both the production and sales halt for the butcher were immediately lifted.”
Animal disease control
The authorities emphasised that the butcher is not to blame. In terms of animal disease control, measures immediately introduced were “unavoidable and absolutely necessary” in order to reduce the possible risk of the ASF pathogen spreading. The local media outlet MOZ.de enquired whether the meat had made it to consumers. He responded that “none of the infected meat ended up on the sales counter, but was disposed of under official supervision.”
9th farm in total to have ASF in Germany
The discovery of ASF on a German farm last week was the 9th in total, ever since the virus was found in Germany in 2020. There hadn’t been any outbreaks on farms since January last year. The latest farm outbreak sent some ripples through Germany, with stress about another potential case (which proved to be false alarm) and a withdrawn export permission for a slaughterhouse in Weissenfels. Also in neighbouring Poland, 6 farms were found infected with ASF early June.
In Poland, ASF has been around since 2014, with in total now 514 farms having reported the virus. Outbreaks on farms there are a seasonal happening in summer, mostly because then fresh yet infected hay is supplied to the pigs.
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