Two cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been confirmed in farm pigs in Germany, Germany’s federal agriculture ministry said. One was in the state of Lower Saxony and one in the state of Brandenburg.
Around 280 pigs and 1500 piglets on a farm in Emsland in Lower Saxony will be slaughtered on Sunday to prevent the disease from spreading, the Lower Saxony state farm ministry said. In Germany, Lower Saxony is a huge pig farming region.
ASF is an infectious viral disease in farm and wild pigs. Animals can die from the illness, but they can also recover. When ASF is discovered, governments around the world kill entire pig populations.
Pork from areas affected by the disease is banned in many countries. In September 2020, China banned imports of German pigmeat after the first ASF case was confirmed in wild boars. The German government has been trying to contain ASF by killing wild boars.
