June 13, 2022

Italy to cull 1,000 swine after two cases of African swine fever were detected

1,000 swine are expected to be culled in Italy after two cases of African swine fever (ASF) were detected on a farm in the Lazio region, Rome, which raised concerns that it might affect the country's pork sector, AFP reported.

Angelo Ferrari, the crisis manager, said the local health agency estimated that 1,000 pigs would have to be culled to stop the spread of ASF.

According to the agricultural association Confagricoltura, Italy is the seventh largest pork producer in the European Union, with 8.9 million pigs representing an industry worth EUR 8 billion (~US$9.1 billion; EUR 1 = US$1.05).

The two cases of ASF discovered in Lazio are the country's first in farmed swine. Before that, cases were discovered in wild boar in northern Italy in January and then in the Lazio region in February.

Since its discovery in 1978, ASF has been endemic to the island of Sardinia in Italy.

In 2018, the virus was discovered in Belgium, prompting China to prohibit all imports of Belgian pork.

China, Japan, and South Korea, as well as Brazil and Argentina, all suspended German pork imports after Germany confirmed its first ASF case in a dead wild boar in 2020.

Last month, Italy's main agricultural organisation, Coldiretti, called on the government to order the "rapid culling" of boars across the country to help stop the spread of ASF.

-      AFP