From WATTAgNet:
An estimated 5,800 pigs will be culled in Poland in the country’s effort to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF), authorities said.
Since May 18, Poland has had three confirmed cases of ASF, according to a report from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). All three cases involved wild boars, and all three were confirmed in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in Eastern Poland near the Belarusian border. A total of seven boars were found dead and tested positive for the disease after samples from the animals were taken to a national laboratory.
Veterinarians will be making visits to more than 270 farms in the Eastern Poland area to check on their compliance with sanitary requirements to prevent the spread of ASF.
According to a KSWO report, the pigs are expected to be culled by the end of July. No pig breeding will be allowed through 2018, but the farmers will be compensated.
ASF has been an issue of growing concern for the pig industry in the region, with the OIE confirming cases of the disease in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Cabo Verde in recent months. A large percentage of those cases have been in wild boars, although the virus did appear in one of Lithuania’s largest pig farms, with more than 19,000 pigs susceptible.
