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African swine fever: what you should know!

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1. Who can be infected with the African swine fever?

The most important Info first of all: The man can not be with the African swine fever infect. That is: From a health point of view, it is completely safe to have direct contact with an infected pig or eat pig meat from a diseased animal.

African swine fever infects only domestic and wild pigs. It affects males and females equally and can occur at any age.

2. Where is African swine fever?

As the Name suggests, is widely used in animal disease primarily in Africa – more precisely, in countries South of the Sahara. Presumably, the African swine fever from Africa was imported to Georgia, and came from there initially in the neighbouring countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. In the Russian Federation cases in domestic pigs and wild boar come since then.

Meanwhile, the African swine has fever also spread in Europe. Affected mainly the Eastern European regions. In the year 2019 most of the cases in Romania, Poland and Hungary occurred. In addition, the following countries reported outbreaks of Preconditions:

  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Estonia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia

3. How is spreading the African swine fever?

African swine fever is a viral disease. In its original area of distribution in Africa, leather ticks, the causative viruses. In Central Europe, ticks play in the Transmission. Here are the animal disease is spreading

  • directly from pig to pig (via body fluids, especially blood) or
  • indirectly via contaminated food (such as kitchens and slaughterhouse waste) or contaminated objects (such as vehicles, agricultural equipment, clothing, hunting equipment).

The person can spread of the African swine fever and so on.

4. As the disease in pigs is noticeable?

Infected pigs develop a very severe General symptoms, such as:

  • Fever
  • Weakness
  • Feeding aversion
  • Movement disorders
  • Breathing problems

In addition, the African swine fever can lead to diarrhea and increased bleeding tendency (nose bleeding, bloody diarrhea, bleeding of the skin). Some affected animals also show changes in behavior (such as decreased flight readiness, movement, pain, disorientation).

5. How can you treat the disease?

Not at all: There are no effective drugs against African swine fever. The diseased pigs usually die within seven to ten days.

6. How can you prevent it?

A vaccine against African swine fever it is not at the moment. The most important measure to prevent the spread of animal disease to prevent is Hygiene.

Effective measures against African swine fever are, for example:

  • Pig herds shield (v. a. fencing stored feed and litter in front of the wild boar protect)
  • no kitchen waste or food scraps to pigs (wild pigs) feed
  • Stables may only be entered by operation of the own protective clothing or disposable protective clothing
  • Animals only from a few, well-known and healthy stocks to buy
  • Animal transport be kept to a Minimum
  • Cattle trucks after each trip to clean and then disinfect
  • Stables before any remap to clean and then disinfect
  • Pests properly combat and monitor the success of

African swine fever is a notifiable disease! Crucial for a functioning early-warning system, especially the employees of the pig holder.

7. What happens when the animal disease spreads to Germany?

As against African swine fever in Germany to do the swine fever regulation before. Then, in an outbreak in domestic swine , the following measures to take:

  • all the pigs of the affected stocks, killing and disposed of
  • large locking districts and observation areas set up, in which it is forbidden to bring animals and their products into and out of the premises
  • Domestic and wild pigs in these zones intensively examine
  • extensive studies on the introduction of the causative Virus perform

The African swine fever in Germany in the case of wild pigs on one of the following measures:

  • so-called vulnerable district to determine the and from the the pigs Spend of the house, in principle, is prohibited
  • if necessary, the wild hunt pigs reinforced
  • shot and found dead wild boar in any case, examine
  • other disease hygiene measures to take (e.g. taken from guts Central, even shot wild evisceration of pigs Central)

8. What everyone can do to prevent the spread of the disease?

  • If you keep pigs, and in the case of an animal possible signs of African swine fever notice, you should inform the competent veterinary office.
  • If you find, for example, when you walk in the woods, a dead wild pig, report the Fund (for example, to the competent hunting authority).
  • Whether as a pig breeder or when you walk on the game reserve: Feeding the pigs, never with kitchen and food waste. (The feeding of catering waste to domestic pigs and wild boar is by the way forbidden for decades, and the same applies for waste from its own budget as well as wastes from commercial Businesses.)
  • Virus-containing meat can be used for domestic pigs and wild boar over a long time to be contagious. This is true not only for fresh meat, but also for frozen, salted or smoked meat and sausage products. You are not prefer to the fact, such products traveling across national borders to take. (In order to avoid the introduction of animal diseases, is the Bringing of meat, meat products and milk from Non-EU countries is prohibited.)
  • Under adverse conditions, discarded remnants of virus-containing food (e.g., sausage bread), enough careless, African swine fever einzuschleppen. Therefore, you should in any case, food leftovers properly disposed of in accordance with (i.e., so that no wild can get pork in it).
  • Also through contaminated objects (such as tools, shoes, clothes), or vehicles, you can spread the disease further. Therefore, you should behave on trips, or for transport trips carefully and responsibly and hygiene regulations.

Sources

African Swine Fever. Online information of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal research Institute for animal health (FLI): www.fli.de (retrieval date: 4.12.2019)

African Swine Fever. Online information of the lower Saxony state office for consumer protection and food safety (LAVES): www.tierseucheninfo.niedersachsen.de (retrieval date: 4.12.2019)

African swine fever: MINISTRY of food and agriculture is asking for vigilance and prevention. Online information of the German Federal Ministry for food and agriculture (BMEL): www.bmel.de (status: 21.11.2019)

Questions and answers on African swine fever (ASF). Online information of the German Federal Ministry for food and agriculture (BMEL): www.bmel.de (status: 22.11.2019)

Last content review: 04.12.2019last Modification: 28.01.2019

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