African Swine Fever (ASF): information on cases in Germany
The animal disease is harmless to humans and occasionally affects kept pig herds
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a severe, highly infectious and incurable viral infection that only affects kept pigs and wild boars and is almost always fatal to the infected pigs. The animal disease is harmless to humans. It has been spreading in Europe since 2014, with Eastern European countries being mostly affected.
Cases of African Swine Fever in wild boar have been detected in the Länder (federal states) of Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and - since mid June 2024 – in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. So far, any further spread of the animal disease has been prevented.
There have been individual outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in kept pigs in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony. These outbreaks have meanwhile been eradicated and both the official measures associated with these outbreaks and the restricted zones have been lifted. In June 2024, there was a new outbreak in kept pigs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in July 2024, some cases were detected in Hesse.
(Detailed information on the respective cases is available in the press reports below as well as the Animal Disease Information System (TSIS)).
Current situation:
In Germany, a new outbreak of African Swine Fever was confirmed in kept pigs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on 6 June 2024. Official measures to prevent the spread of the virus were initiated. There are no indications of ASF being present in the wild boar population in the region.
In July 2024, new cases of African swine fever were confirmed in kept pigs in Hesse. Wild boar in these areas are also affected by ASF. Since Rhineland-Palatinate also registered ASF cases in wild boar the authorities established restriction zones that did not only cover districts in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, but also neighbouring districts in Baden-Württemberg.
A summary of the key elements
- African Swine Fever is an animal disease, it is harmless to humans.
- The consumption of potentially contaminated meat also poses no risk to human health.
- Pigs, however, fall seriously ill when contracting African Swine Fever, and the disease is almost always fatal for them.
- The animal disease is transmitted by wild boars and kept pigs, but also by food, hunting equipment, feed, clothing, shoes and other items used by farmers, hunters or persons engaging in recreational activities.
Some facts about Swine Fever
The term “Swine Fever” refers to two different viral animal diseases: “Classical Swine Fever” and “African Swine Fever”, abbreviated as ASF. Both animal diseases affect kept pigs and wild boars; they are infectious and cause fever. They cannot be transmitted to humans. Both Classical Swine Fever and African Swine Fever are incurable. In the event of an outbreak, the entire herd must be killed and safely disposed of. These economic losses are exacerbated by large-scale restriction zones with tight restrictions on trading and transport.
Live pigs are the main carriers, but especially in the case of African Swine Fever carriers might also include transport vehicles and in particular imported foods or leftover food. Since the virus is very resilient it remains contagious for a long time in chilled, frozen, cured or smoked meat. Under no circumstances may these products, including sausages, be brought into the EU by travellers.
The most recent outbreaks of Classical Swine Fever in Germany were detected in 2006 in domestic pigs and in 2009 in wild boar. Currently African Swine Fever is only occurring in a few German regions in wild boar and/or in kept pigs.
Measures to be taken if kept pigs are affected
In Germany, the Länder are responsible for animal disease control. The authorities competent pursuant to Land law carry out the animal disease control measures. The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) supports the epidemiological investigations. In the event of an outbreak of African Swine Fever in kept pigs, restricted zones are also established around the affected holdings. Movement restrictions and other measures apply to live pigs and pig products in these areas.
It is still possible to maintain intra-Community trade in pigs and pigmeat, since, whilst the applicable animal health law generally prohibits movements from these restricted zones, it does provide for possible exemptions subject to certain conditions (for example examining the pigs).
Food: a source of infection
The virus is transmitted directly via animal contacts or indirectly, for example via meat or sausages from infected animals. Under unfavourable conditions, the careless disposal of virus-containing leftover food for consumption during travel may be sufficient to introduce the disease. Such leftover food should therefore be disposed of in places that are inaccessible to wild boars.
Since the virus remains contagious for an exceptionally long time, it can also be spread by objects such as tools, footwear, clothing, and transport vehicles. For this reason, travellers – including people on hunting trips – and transporters should be particularly cautious and responsible, and should comply with appropriate hygiene measures.
Precautions and awareness building
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture is in close contact with the Länder and the relevant associations. Existing information and monitoring measures have been intensified and are regularly adapted to the situation. Awareness-raising efforts, including through intensified public relations work, among the general public, hunters and farmers, and in particular among pig farmers, Eastern European workers, and travellers, have also been made. In addition, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture takes action to ensure an active exchange with Poland and the Czech Republic, which border on the countries with active outbreaks. It focuses in particular on issues relating to closer cooperation in border regions and better coordination of control measures.
A functioning system for the early detection of possible introductions into Germany places high demands on pig farmers, veterinarians, and hunters in order to give the animal disease as little time as possible to spread further if there is an outbreak. Therefore, intensified sampling for the African Swine Fever virus both in kept pigs and in wild boar is currently being conducted.
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture considers better control by the competent Länder of the biosecurity measures to be indispensable for preventing the introduction of African Swine Fever into kept pig herds – also on micro-farms.
