In an attempt to limit the spread of African swine fever, authorities in the region of Lombardy, in Italy have apparently preemptively culled 34,000 hogs on twelve farms. African swine fever has been prevalent in the region since 2022. Lombardy produces almost half the ten million hogs reared annually in Italy.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture stated, "our objective is to extinguish this outbreak so that the problem does not become a danger for the supply chain of the entire Italian sector".
African swine fever will only be effectively controlled through a combination of biosecurity and deployment of a safe and effective vaccine providing durable protection.