ASF Germany: First case on a farm Rhineland-Palatinate state

A pig on a farm in Germany - this picture was not taken at the newly infected farm. Photo: Henk Riswick

African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has emerged on a small pig farm in the state Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the first time the virus emerged on a farm in that state.

The virus was detected on a farm with 13 animals near the town Bad Dürksheim, on August 15. The virus was confirmed by Germany’s reference laboratory Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.

**AFRICAN SWINE FEVER (ASF):** For the latest information on the African Swine Fever virus from outbreaks to what can be done to prevent ASF entering your farm. Find out more…

The detection makes it the 9th farm in West-Germany infected this summer. Ever since the virus emerged in wild boar in this area near Frankfurt-am-Main, the virus spread amongst the wild boar population, now having infected 151 wild boar and 9 farms, of which 8 are located in Hesse state, with in total 3,976 pigs on-site.

Updated figures by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) now show that the largest farm in Hesse state, near the town Trebur, had 2,419 animals on-site. An earlier report by WOAH spoke of barely 1,000 pigs, but often exact details tend to trickle through slowly at the international organisation. State reports as well as local media did immediately speak of the farm having 2,000 pigs.

In western Germany, the virus has now affected wild boar in 3 states:

Hesse (110 wild boar)
Rhineland-Palatinate (41 wild boar)
Baden-Württemberg (1 wild boar)

ASF virus has been in Germany since 2020. Until this summer, the virus only existed in the states adjacent to Poland, in the east.

ASF situation in Poland

In neighbouring Poland, in the meantime, the number of infected pig farms keeps growing as well. At the moment, 37 pig farms in the whole of the country have reported an infection, including the first 2 in the province Kuyavia-Pomerania, in the heart of the country, at about 30 km north east of the city Bydgoszcz. Until this week, no pig farm had ever been found infected with ASF there. In both cases, the farm size was relatively small, with 37 and 127 animals on-site.

ASF situation in Italy

Somewhat to the south, in Italy, the situation continues to be difficult. Especially in the northern part of the country, in the region around the big cities Milan and Genoa, the area keeps growing where infected wild boar are being found. In the latest update by the WOAH, in that area alone, 2,246 infected wild boar have been confirmed. This summer alone, in this area 12 farms have reported an infection; one of the most recent outbreaks took place in Novara province, west of Milan.

Genotype II of the African Swine Fever virus also emerged in 4 other zones in Italy in recent years – in Rome, Calabria, Campania and Sardinia. Things appear to be relatively calm in those 4 zones.