UPDATED: First case of ASF confirmed in Poland
After Lithuania, a second country in the European Union has now confirmed an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF). For the first time, the virus has killed a wild boar in Eastern Poland.
The disease was discovered in a dead wild boar near the municipality of Szudzialowo, in the Sokólski county, Podlaskie province, about 900 m from the border with Belarus, and about 75 km south of the border with Lithuania.
The boar was found within the framework of the ASF Monitoring Programme, on January 13, and reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) four days later. The Polish have been doing intensive surveillance in a 40 km wide zone near the borders with Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus.
The outbreak was confirmed by the National Veterinary Research Institute using a PCR test. Measures applied include the control of wildlife reservoirs, movement control and screening.
African Swine Fever has been rampaging through the Russian pig herd for several years now, after having been discovered in Georgia and Armenia prior to that. Recently, the disease also showed up in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania.
There is still no vaccine for ASF.
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