ASF Greece: 174 pigs culled on farm in north

The outbreak is a continuation of a trend which must have been causing some headaches for the Greek authorities throughout 2023 and seems likely the case of the virus crossing the border from states to the north of Greece. The current infected farm is located near Pagoneri, in the commune East Macedonia & Thrace in the western part of the country, and is located just over 2 km from the border with Bulgaria.

Throughout 2023, already 6 farms were found infected, mostly in the commune Central Macedonia, north of the city Thessaloniki. One infected farm, however, was found in a different province, Epirus and Western Macedonia, more than 100 km to the east; in that case it was within 3 km from the border with the country North Macedonia. That happened late June 2023; outbreaks in this neighbouring country have been reported since late 2021.

Unlike in more northern regions of Europe, so far relatively few outbreaks have been reported in Greek wild boar. Only 2 infected wild boar were reported found almost a year ago, both in January 2023.

This month’s outbreak was in total the 8th farm in Greece that ever reported the virus. Apart from the 6 in 2023, there was also a one-off case in 2020. The 2024 outbreak in Pagoneri also is the 2nd largest farm that got infected in Greece. Only 1 farm was larger – it got infected in April 2023, and had 675 pigs on-site.

In total, the Greek authorities had to cull a total of 1,165 domestic pigs in Greece to keep African Swine Fever under control. Of this amount, the lion’s share (1,133 pigs) has been culled since the beginning of 2023.