ASF Estonia: Recent outbreak wave costs 10% of its pigs
Estonia has been taking urgent steps to combat the worst epidemic of African Swine Fever (ASF) in years, which has incurred record losses to the pig industry.
Around 25,000 pigs, or 10% of the total population in Estonia, have been infected as a result of a series of ASF outbreaks raging in the country over recent months. That news was shared by Hendrik Johannes Terras, Estonia’s minister of agriculture, during a government meeting on 14 August, as reported by local press.
Eliminating consequences of ASF outbreak
More than €3 million has been spent on eliminating the direct consequences of the outbreaks, through the death toll could still rise. Terras said, “The country has a total of 283,000 pigs, and every single one of them is at risk of becoming infected.”
Kristen Michal, the country’s prime minister, had to postpone his vacation to deal with the crisis. He said the very future of livestock farming and national food security is at stake.
Exports are also expected to suffer. Official government data shows that in 2024, Estonia’s pig industry sold pork worth around €22 million to customers abroad.
Protecting the largest pig farm
The Estonian Agriculture and Food Board imposed a ban on entry to the area of Estonia’s largest pig farm, Ekseko, which houses around 50,000 pigs, in order to protect the facility from the disease. That is for a month. The ban means that people can only come close to the Ekseko farm and its surroundings to perform work duties and to carry out measures to prevent the spread of ASF.
In the past weeks, 8 pigs died on the farm under suspicious circumstances, but the follow-up investigation showed no signs of ASF. Raimo Heinam, the board’s CEO, said, “An ASF outbreak at Ekseko would be a serious blow to the company, which would take years to recover from.”
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