Czech Republic reports 1st case of African Swine Fever

Czech veterinarians found a dead wild boar on 21 June in the Zlín region in the east of the country, close to the border with Slovakia. The country’s National Veterinary Research Institute reported the outbreak to the Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on 27 June.

News agency Reuters even reported that 2 wild boars were detected with ASF, but this is not confirmed by the OIE. According to the press agency, a 10 km sanitary perimeter has been established. This includes a 5,000-head pig farm, which will be inspected.

Origin of ASF infection is a mystery

The origin of this particular infection is unclear. Earlier outbreaks of African Swine Fever have been found in neighbouring Poland, as well as in Ukraine, but both areas are over 400 km away from Zlín. Many experts are convinced that careless human behaviour is usually the cause of the spread of the virus.

The virus has been around in Eastern Europe since 2007, within initial outbreaks having been found in Georgia and Armenia. It spread through Azerbaijian, Russia, Belarus and Ukrain to eventually reach the European Union in 2014. For 3 years, it appeared to be possible to contain the disease in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and (eastern) Poland.

African Swine Fever in Moldova

In October 2016, Moldova reported 2 outbreaks of African Swine Fever. So far, the country had not reported any new cases of the virus.