Germany killed 200 pigs after confirming the first cases of African swine fever at two farms in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler scientific institute had confirmed the farm animals had African swine fever, the agriculture ministry said. All animals were slaughtered.
So far, African swine fever had only been found in wild animals, with 1,267 African swine fever cases in wild boars in the Brandenburg area. Brandenburg is on the border with Poland, where the disease is widespread.
To prevent the disease from jumping from wild boars to farm pigs, Germany allowed the hunting and killing of more wild boars.
Fencing has been built along the Polish border to prevent wild boars from entering Germany, and six zones were established with intensified hunting of wild boars, Brandenburg state health minister Ursula Nonnemacher said.
China and other pig meat buyers banned imports of German pig meat in September 2020 after the first case was confirmed in wild animals. Import bans by China and major Asian importers remain in place; they now buy pigs from other countries, like Spain and Brazil.
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