Animal disease
IMAGO / mhphoto 
Only recently have ASF cases on pig farms in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg caused great concern among the domestic pork industry. The outbreaks on several commercial farms in July 2022 affected both small and large pork producers.
GERMANY, Potsdam. Local authorities confirmed a new case of African swine fever (ASF) on a small pig farm in Germany. The animals had to be culled, and an investigation into the possible causes was started.
According to a press statement by the Ministry for consumer protection in Brandenburg, the local veterinary office immediately closed the small farm with 11 pigs after a possible ASF outbreak was suspected and initiated necessary measures. All animals were culled, the ministry reported. On Tuesday, the reference laboratory Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut confirmed the ASF outbreak.
The local authorities have issued an investigation into the cause of the recent outbreak. The farm is located close to the border to Saxony in the East of Germany. Brandenburg and Saxony both share a border with Poland. Wild boars crossing the Polish border are believed to have caused the spreading of the disease among commercial pig farms in East Germany. Currently, around 3,700 ASF cases in wild boar have been confirmed in Brandenburg, the ministry stated.
The first cases of ASF in Brandenburg were detected in the summer of 2021, affecting three farms. Another case on a fattening farm in Brandenburg was reported a year later.
On Monday, Polish authorities reported ASF outbreaks among wild boars in the northern part of the country. The deadly hog disease has been spreading in eastern Europe, with outbreaks found in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Source: Ministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Integration und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Brandenburg / World Organisation for Animal Health
