African swine fever: more animals discovered
Hanna Helder studied German language and literature at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. In addition to her studies, she has gained a lot of experience in radio and print journalism through internships and freelance work. She has been at the Burda School of Journalism since October 2018 and writes, among other things, as a trainee for
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.Further dead wild boars were found in Brandenburg, in which the national reference laboratory of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute has now confirmed African swine fever. New suspected cases increase worries about spread.
The African swine fever threatens to spread further in Brandenburg. After the first nationwide case on the border with Poland, the disease was detected in five other wild boars, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday. It was about four wild boars found dead and one animal that had been killed. The tests in the state laboratory had been positive. The national reference laboratory, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, has now also confirmed the results in all five cases.
Confirmed cases in the hazard area
The found locations of the confirmed cases are in an already defined endangered area of up to 25 kilometers around the location of the first carcass find in the Oder-Spree, Dahme-Spreewald and Spree-Neiße districts. Hunting is prohibited there. Wild boars from the area are not allowed to be transported any further. The use of agricultural and forestry areas is prohibited there, and restrictions apply to pig farmers. There are 41 pig farmers and around 12,700 pigs in the area.
The new cases do not come as a surprise to the Brandenburg consumer protection minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens). The first infected animal was a two to three year old brook. One must also start from freshlings.
Discovered more dead animals
On Wednesday, five suspected swine fever cases were added to the six existing cases. The results of an infection were still pending. At Neuzelle in the Oder-Spree district, five more wild boar carcasses were discovered on Wednesday, said district spokesman Mario Behnke. Samples were sent to the state laboratory for analysis.
The search for dead wild boars is intensified. According to the district, 45 forestry employees and hunters have been looking for cases around the location of the first carcass since Wednesday. According to the State Agriculture Minister Axel Vogel (Greens), there is an increased search for dead wild boar, also with dog teams from Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein.
Electric fence built around the core zone
A 12-kilometer-long mobile electric fence was set up around a core zone around the site at the weekend. Entering the forest and the countryside is prohibited there. A solid fence is planned around the core zone when the extent of the infection is clear, said Nonnemacher. Brandenburg must now adapt the existing protection zones and protective measures, announced the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
The disease can have a significant economic impact. Because of the swine fever, Japan, Brazil and Argentina have also banned German pork imports to China and South Korea. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is in talks with the governments of these countries in order to reach agreements. The aim is to restrict import bans due to swine fever only to companies from affected German regions and not to introduce them for the whole of Germany.
You can read more about African swine fever, such as how high the risk of infection is for humans and animals, how you can recognize affected pigs and what you should pay attention to in our article "How dangerous is African swine fever?". (hh / ft / dpa)
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