World meat industry news

According to the Data Processing Center of Rosselkhoznadzor, 13 African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks have been reported in Russia since the beginning of the year.

Seven outbreaks were registered in wild boars in five regions: the Astrakhan region (3 sites), the Kursk region (1 site), the Kostroma region (1 site), the Saratov region (1 site), and the Primorsky Krai (1 case).

Six outbreaks were revealed in domestic pigs in three regions: the Volgograd region (1 outbreak), the Samara region (1 outbreak), and the Krasnoyarsk Territory (4 outbreaks).

The virus is mainly confirmed in domestic pigs on backyard farms with low biosecurity levels. Thus, an outbreak was detected on a backyard farm with 25 pigs, and 3 of them got infected.

According to experts, the ASF situation in Europe looks a lot more challenging than in Russia.

Thus, between January 1 and March 27, Poland reported 774 ASF outbreaks, and 206 new cases were revealed in Romania.

Information note

African swine fever is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs with a 100% mortality rate. There is no specific treatment or effective vaccine for ASF. Following a decision by Victoria Abramchenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, a domestic vaccine against ASF in cattle has to be developed and applied in Russia by 2024.

Wild hogs are considered to be the dominant natural hosts of the ASF virus. Infection causes high fever, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea in wild and domestic pigs.

ASF does not present a threat to public health, although scientists presume mutations are possible.