SHIC Updates Global ASF Situation

The ongoing spread of African Swine Fever in eastern Europe and southeast Asia and the recognition of Hungary's progress in eliminating the infection highlight the Swine Health Information Center's May global swine disease surveillance report.

As part of its May eNewsletter the Swine Health Information Center has released its monthly domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports.
Dr. Paul Sundberg, the Executive Director of the Swine Health Information Center and a member of the Swine Innovation Porc Coordinated African Swine Fever Research Working Group, notes African Swine Fever continues to spread in eastern Europe as well as southeast Asia.

Clip-Dr. Paul Sundberg-Swine Health Information Center:

An example is that there's another outbreak that's been identified in Greece.This is in a commercial farm in Greece versus the small production system that was infected in 2020.The assumption is that this is a spillover from wild boar that's bordering next to Greece and that that continues to move down into Greece from eastern Europe.

Interesting Hungary is asking the EU to lift some restrictions, not necessarily call the country negative but to decrease the restrictions put onto Hungary by the EU for export of their products and that's a good step.Hungary has worked very hard to try to control ASF and now they're asking for recognition by the rest of the EU in order to be able to move some product from some specific areas, not just say everything Hungary is OK but to regionalize Hungary and recognise that there are specific areas that are very low and negligible risk.

Dr. Sundberg notes Australia remains on high alert because of the opportunity for ASF to be moved in pork products, especially the illegal imports that all countries are on alert for and the United Kingdom has identified different fresh and frozen products coming in from countries endemic with ASF that should not be not be allowed to export into the UK.