African Swine Fever
The latest聽聽describes the continued spread of African Swine Fever virus in Eastern Europe, Belgium and close to the Polish/German border where it has been diagnosed in wild boar.聽 Overall the disease has been seen most commonly in wild boar and in small holder pig units.
Although international travel is dramatically reduced at the moment, the risk of disease importation through imported pork products still remains.聽The virus can survive for months, not just in fresh/frozen pig meat, but in air-dried ham and other charcuterie.聽The ban on feeding kitchen scraps/swill/any produce that has been through a kitchen is a vital tool in the fight against incursion of several notifiable diseases.聽聽聽聽聽
We hope it is useful to have a quick reminder of what this disease looks like:聽 Clinical signs of African Swine Fever include pyrexia, huddling up, conjunctivitis, red/purple discolouration of the skin (particularly the ears, other extremities, or ventrum), vomiting or diarrhoea, haemorrhages in the skin or throughout the internal organs, and death. Mortality is usually (but not always) high, and all age groups may be affected.聽African Swine Fever is notifiable: any suspicion of an outbreak must be reported to your local APHA office immediately.
聽are provided by DEFRA for information.
An open access article on聽聽is also well worth a read.
Posted by Veterinary Services on 08/04/2020
