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 ProMED-Mail reported on the prevalence of African swine fever (ASF) in European nations since the beginning of 2021. Most recently in August, cases were reported to the World Organization of Animal Health from Bulgaria, Russia, Latvia, Hungary and Moldova. A correlation between diagnoses in feral hogs (wild boars) and small-scale commercial farms and backyard units is evident. Given the frequency of isolation from wild boars, it could be concluded that ASF is endemic in this population in Poland. Many eastern European nations are affected as documented by the Institute for Epidemiology, a division of the Freidrich-Loeffler Institute in Germany.
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The role of wild boars in eastern and central Europe should serve as a warning for the U.S. If African swine fever is introduced to Florida by extension from the Caribbean, eradication will be extremely difficult if not impossible given the wide distribution and large population of feral hogs.
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Outbreaks of ASF in European nations 2021. Blue dots indicate diagnoses in feral hogs (wild boars). Red dots in domestic hogs. |