ASF Italy: Almost 34,000 pigs culled in the north

This number of pigs had to be culled to stop further spread of the virus.

Francesco Feliziani, head of the Italian reference laboratory for swine fever, confirmed to Pig Progress that this amount also includes farms where the virus hasn’t been confirmed, but where culls have been performed for preventive reasons.

To Reuters, a regional spokesperson for Lombardy added, “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.” He added that it was his belief that the risk of a further spread seems to have been averted for now.

Lombardy is the Italian region with the largest number of pigs. The number shows that the virus has made a considerable impact on the domestic pig herd having been present in wild boar mostly in 2022.

Genotype II of African Swine Fever virus first emerged in Italy in early 2022. Ever since the virus has spread to 4 distinct zones. Official data are currently showing:

• A zone in the north in the regions Lombardy, Liguria and Piemonte, with in total now 924 dead wild boar and (at least) 8 farms being infected, leading to just under 12,000 pigs dying from the virus and preventive culling. This is the zone where currently the most activity is.

• A zone just north of the capital Rome, where 91 wild boar were found infected, and 1 farm got infected with 9 pigs on-site. The situation seems under control here;

• A zone in Campania, south of Naples, where 26 dead wild boar were found. There do not seem to be a lot of extra infections lately;

• A zone in Calabria, in the tip of southern Italy, where 16 infected wild boar were found and 6 farms were infected with a total of 559 domestic pigs culled. Here the situation also appears calm.

Genotype I of African Swine Fever virus has been present on the Italian island Sardinia for various decades – a situation which has been known to be endemic for years. Genotype II, however, emerged in the Caucasian area in 2007, and then spread to both Europe, Asia and even the Caribbean.