UK: DEFRA Update On ASF In Eastern Europe/Belgium

#14,591

While China and much of Southeast Asia have been dealing with African Swine Fever since mid-2018, the ASF virus - which had been eradicated on the European continent since 1995 - reappeared in the Republic of Georgia in 2007 (see African Swine Fever Virus Isolate, Georgia, 2007), likely brought in by ASFV contaminated feed products.

Since then ASF has spread both east and west - slowly at first - but gaining speed in recent years. In September of 2018, the virus was found in wild boar in Belgium - signifying a westward jump of more than 500 km (see OIE Notification: African Swine Fever Jumps To Belgium) - raising the stakes for all of western Europe.

While ASF doesn't pose a direct threat to human health, its continued spread in Asia and Eastern Europe poses an existential threat to their pork industry, as the virus is often 100% fatal in pigs, and no vaccine is currently available.

Below we have the UK's latest DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) update on ASF activity in Eastern Europe. I've only included some excerpts from a much larger report, so follow the link to read it in its entirety.

Updated Outbreak Assessment #07

Arican swine fever in Europe (Eastern Europe & Belgium)

19 December 2019
Ref: VITT/1200 ASF in Europe (Eastern Europe & Belgium)

Dsease report

Snce our last report on the 26 November 2019 (link), there have been new outbreaks of ASF in domestic pigs and cases in wild boar in Eastern Europe. ASF-infected wild boar continue to be found in the west of Poland and are now 40km away from the German border. Further south, there have been new reports of ASF in wild boar in southern Bulgaria, close to the border with North Macedonia.

There continues to be a general decrease in the number of outbreaks in domestic pigs and cases in wild boar in Eastern Europe. Since November, outbreaks in domestic pigs have only been observed in Romania, Russia and Ukraine (Table 1). The majority of these involved piglets in backyard small holdings, though there have been a small number of outbreaks in commercial holdings (three in Romania, one in Ukraine).

Poland and Hungary continue to report high numbers of cases in wild boar (Table 2). Following the large jump west in Poland reported in our last update, there have been almost 70 cases of ASF in wild boar reported in the surrounding area. The furthest west of these is now just 40km from the German border (see map). Poland has constructed a 120km fence between the provinces of Lubusz and Greater Poland to limit wild boar movement (PigProgress, 2019) and Germany is on high alert for the disease, expecting further cases and spread in the coming weeks. The German Agriculture Minister has stated that the country had made intensive preliminary arrangements over the past two years including dissemination of relevant information and materials, and local authorities are reportedly instructed to increase their efforts to search for dead boars (Focus, 2019).

There have been 82 cases of ASF in wild boar in Bulgaria since November 2019 to date, including reports extremely close to the borders of currently ASF-free North Macedonia and Greece. Both of these countries are currently on high alert, having been identified as one of nine Balkan countries to have a very high chance (66-100%) of disease spread within one year of introduction in a recent EFSA risk assessment (EFSA, 2019). Belgium has reported one more case of ASF in wild boar since our last report on 26 November. The carcase was discovered within the fenced area of Luxembourg and had been dead for over three months (OIE, 2019).

         (SNIP)

Conclusion

The risk remains at medium for the entry of contaminated or infected products into UK at present. Border checks on passengers are paramount, as are publicity campaigns aimed at reaching the travelling public and reminding them that bringing back products of animal origin from outside the EU or from a region in the EU under disease restrictions is not allowed. Commercially produced products which can be safely traded in the EU will be labelled as such. Home produced products are a particular concern.

Travellers from an affected area in the EU or anywhere in Asia and Africa must not bring back products of pig origin – including ham, sausages or pâté – or any equipment or  other goods which could potentially be contaminated with ASF virus to the UK.

Travellers from Asia and other third country areas who bring meat or dairy products can also face prosecution and a large fine. Disease can be spread by pig keepers and members of the public feeding catering waste, kitchen scraps or pork products to their animals. It is illegal to do so.

The risk of exposure to the pig population in the UK is still highly dependent on the level of biosecurity on individual pig premises but is still considered to be low.

We will continue to monitor the situation.

Authors Dr Lauren Perrin
Dr Francesca Gauntlett
Alastair George
Joe Bowen

While no one has an exact total, there are estimates that a quarter of the world's pig production has been lost over the past year due to ASF, and the virus shows no signs of slowing.

So far, Western Europe, Australia, and North and South America have been spared -  but continued  success is far from assured.

Last May the USDA announced enhanced testing and surveillance for ASF in American pigs, in hopes of detecting - and stamping out - any infections as early as possible. A couple of months ago, in Nature Sci. Rpts: Risk of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction into the United States, we looked at a study that attempted to quantify the risk.

While it was not possible to come up with an exact answer, that report found that the odds of it happening have increased significantly over the past couple of years.

While ASF doesn't infect or sicken humans, its continued spread can have adverse effects on our health, as we discussed last month in African Swine Fever's (ASF) Other Impacts; Pharmaceuticals, Bushmeat, and Food Insecurity.

All of which  makes the continued spread of ASF around the world a much bigger story than most people realize.