ASF Italy: Almost 100,000 pigs culled in 2024
The amount of pig culls related to African Swine Fever (ASF) in northern Italy has almost reached the 100,000 mark in 2024. The number of infected pig farms in 2024 alone has grown to 31.
With those figures – communicated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) – the year 2024 has been the heaviest by far for Italy since genotype II of ASF emerged in the country in 2022, first in wild boar, then in domestic pigs. The 2024 culls have been taking place in a large zone in the north of Italy, comprising parts of 4 regions.
ASF outbreaks in Lombardy region
The highest death toll in 2024 occurred in the northern region Lombardy, traditionally the most important swine producing region of Italy. This year alone, 22 pig farms were confirmed positive for ASFv. So far, that has led to 74,882 porcine victims, as under EU regulations, all pigs present on a farm have to be culled should 1 porcine inhabitant on the farm prove to be positive for ASFv.
The majority of the infected pig farms were located in the Lombardian province Pavia (14); the others occurred in the provinces Lodi (6) and Milano (2). From the most recent outbreaks in September and October, no detailed data are yet available through WOAH, so the official death toll is likely to rise.
Most infected farms were commercial facilities, often with several thousands of animals on-site. The largest of the infected farms in the WOAH data, had 19,615 pigs on-site and was found infected early August. In addition, a farm of 12,548 pigs was found infected in July.
Lombardy also had to deal with on-farm outbreaks in 2023. Last year 9 farms were reported infected, which at the time led to the culling of 19,810 animals. Combining the 2 years then in total, therefore the death toll on farms in Lombardy farms now stands at 94,692.
ASF outbreaks in Piedmont region
The northern region Piedmont also suffered some heavy losses with 23,626 pigs which had to be culled on 8 farms just in 2024. In total 7 of them were in Novara province, and 1 was in Vercelli province. In the previous years, Piedmont had only reported outbreaks of ASF in its wild boar population.
ASF outbreaks in Emilia-Romagna region
The outbreak zone also covers a small bit of the Emilia-Romagna region. So far outbreaks in wild boar have been fairly limited there, but 1 farm did get infected, in Piacenza province. There a farm with 781 animals was infected in July. In previous years, no farm outbreaks were reported from the region.
ASF outbreaks in Liguria region
The northern region Liguria has not been reporting ASF on farms, only in its wild boar population.
ASF in the rest of Italy
Apart from the north, genotype II of ASF virus emerged in 4 separate areas throughout the country in the last 2 years, but on the basis of data the situation appears to be very calm there.
The virus was found in wild boar in Lazio region (around Rome), which also led to the culling of animals a small pig farm with 9 animals in June 2022. In addition, the virus briefly emerged in Calabria (in the far south) in 2023, infecting a handful of wild boar and 6 farms all with fewer than 1,000 animals on-site. Thirdly, the virus was reported from a natural area in the region Campania (south east of Naples) last year – here it only infected the local wild boar population.
Lastly, an outbreak worth noting occurred on the island Sardinia, where a one-off outbreak on a farm with 13 pigs led to alarm in September 2023. Sardinia is the only place in Europe where genotype I of the virus was still around at that time – a left-over of a wave of infections of the virus in the 1960s and 1970s. Where the virus got eradicated from the continent, the island was the only place where it continued to be around. As Sardinia is an island the situation has been under control for decades and was officially declared eradicated last month. Both genotypes did not “meet” during this recent infection.
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