Slovakia: 10th EU country to report African Swine Fever

The country formally reported its first outbreak on Thursday, July 25 to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The virus was found on a backyard farm with 4 pigs in Košice province, in the east of the country, close to the border with both Hungary and Ukraine, where both ASF was already confirmed in earlier years.

ASF in the European Union

Ever since ASF has entered Eastern Europe in 2007, the virus has been able to find a way into Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Hungary and Belgium. Only the Czech Republic managed to keep the outbreaks under control and this country was declared free of ASF again earlier this year.

Belgium appears to be well on the way to also successfully eradicate the virus from its wild boar population. This week, however, 2 new ASF findings in the country’s wild boar population were found.

The situation in Romania and Bulgaria, on the other hand, appear less optimistic with the summer months bringing new waves of outbreaks, affecting larger farms as well. Also in Poland, this week 8 new outbreaks on farms were reported, including a larger one of over 3,300 pigs, discovered on July 14.