French want culling of all wild boars near border
French farmers unions have demanded the mass culling of all wild boar in a wide zone along the border with Germany in order to avoid African Swine Fever (ASF) from coming into the country.
‘’We ask to urgently establish a white zone on both sides of the French-German border east of the Rhine, in which all wild boar have to be eliminated,’’ the largest farmers organisation FNSEA, other unions and the national union of pig holders FNP say in a joint statement. ‘’That is necessary to prevent the entry of AVP into France. The virus has been at the door of the Bas-Rhin and Moselle border regions for weeks already.’’
78 kilometers from France
According to the French platform for the surveillance of animal diseases, dated September 10, the nearest case in Germany is at 78 kilometers from the border with France. ‘’A wild boar can travel 20 to 30 kilometers per day, especially during the hunting period,’’ the statement says.
Preventive measures
The agricultural organisations also ask the government to have a ‘preventive stock’ of gates and other material ready and to organise a systematic biosecurity audit of all the pig holdings in the border regions. Farms that have not taken enough measures to prevent a infection should be ordered to stop all activities.
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