World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reports the first case of African swine fever in a wild boar in Hungary. The virus was confirmed in a single wild boar in the Heves region, reports OIE.

Since 2016, Hungary has been actively monitoring dead boars for ASF in eastern counties near borders of Ukraine and Poland, as well as an increase in surveillance at the border of pork products for the rest of the country.  

Unfortunately, the detection of ASF was outside the current surveillance zone which is concerning to animal health officials. While the source of the virus is officially “unknown or inconclusive”, the OIE says, “Based on the information available at the moment, the most likely source of the infection is food waste, introduced by foreign citizens working in large numbers in industrial facilities located in this area. The detailed epidemiological investigation is ongoing.”

According to a report on IEG Vu, Max Green writes that “Denmark recently announced plans to build a border fence to prevent an incursion of infected wild boar and so protect the country’s huge pig industry. Meanwhile, hunters in the Czech Republic — where ASF is already present — are being offered rewards to kill wild boar across the country.”

Green also reports that EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andiukaitis recently praised the Czech Republic’s approach to ASF and agreed on the need to reduce illegal trade in meat, particularly from the EU’s eastern neighbors. He also recommended that countries adjacent to large outbreaks of disease should tighten border controls.

European pork producers are urged to take stringent external biosecurity measures as ASF continuous to spread westward.