The latest farm outbreak in South Korea brings the nation’s total in this population so far this year to nine, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Cases were confirmed last week in the northeastern province of Gangwon, around 90 kilometers northeast of the capital city, Seoul. A transport ban was imposed in the area, and around 230 farms were disinfected, the source reports.
This week, a senior official from the South Korean agriculture ministry has visited the Gangwon provincial office to discuss the containment of the disease. This is considered to be a high-risk season for ASF in the country as wild boar are attracted to farms for easy feed sources. Furthermore, the presence of hikers in the more remote areas increases the risks of infecting the wild animals with contaminated food, and disturbing them into moving to new areas.
The latest outbreak increases the nation’s total ASF outbreaks in domestic swine to 47, according to Pig & People.
First cases in South Korea occurred in September 2019. Since then, the source puts the number of ASF infections in its wild boar at 4,166 — a figure unchanged since the end of September.
3 northeast Indian states record new ASF outbreaks
Over the past two weeks, ASF cases have been confirmed in Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Since January, approximately 13,800 pigs have died in Mizoram, and a further 23,251 have been culled, according to India Today NE on October 13. The disease situation was ongoing in 245 communities in the state at that time, and financial losses were estimated at INR2.5 billion (US$29.7 million).
In Nagaland, the same source reported last week that mortality of an unspecified number of pigs in Wokha district has been attributed to ASF. In August, outbreaks were reported in the district of Kohima.
Several ASF-infected pigs have been discovered recently in the Karbi Anglong hill district of Assam, reports Assam Tribune.
Officials have put in place rigorous control measures, including culling. Affected farmers are set to receive financial compensation, according to the source.
Philippines to accelerate ASF vaccination
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture has called for vaccination protocols to be refined, according to the official Philippine News Agency. Aim is to accelerate the government-controlled ASF vaccine roll-out, which has begun in the province of Batangas.
Officials report that some of the pigs vaccinated recently in the town of Lobos have increased antibody titers to the ASF virus — an early indication of vaccine efficacy.
Latest update from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry indicate a possible easing of the ASF situation in the country.
As of October 18, the disease situation was considered to be active in 25 provinces in 10 out of 17 regions. This represents an easing of the situation compared with October 2, when 30 provinces in 14 regions were tackling ongoing outbreaks.
In terms of numbers of communities with outbreaks, worst affected provinces in the Philippines are North Cotabato (Soccsksargan region on the island of Mindanao), and the Luzon island provinces of Batangas (Calabarzon region) and Camarines Sur (Bicol region).
Vietnam records more ASF than last year
So far this year, Vietnam is experiencing more ASF outbreaks than in 2023.
Up to September 27, 1,005 outbreaks had been confirmed in 46 provinces of the country, according to VOV, citing information from the agriculture ministry. More than 63,600 have been culled in order to control the spread of the infection.
For comparison, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported ASF outbreaks in 45 provinces/municipalities in Vietnam, and more than 34,500 pigs culled during the whole of last year.
3 European states record new ASF cases in domestic pigs
So far in 2024, 15 countries in the region have confirmed cases of ASF affecting commercial and non-commercial domestic pigs.
Total outbreaks for this population is 643, according to the latest update of the Animal Disease Information System from the European Commission (EC; October 16). The system monitors listed animal diseases in European Union member states and adjacent countries.
During 2023, 16 of the region’s states recorded a total of 4,513 ASF outbreaks in this category with the EC.
Registering the most outbreaks in domestic pigs since the start of this year has been Serbia. This nation’s total has stood at 261 since the end of September. Next are Romania (now with 164) and Ukraine (62). Their totals increased by five and two, respectively, over the previous week.
Further details of some of these developments are revealed in the official notifications to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) from the respective national animal health agencies.
One commercial farm was among the eight premises recently affected by ASF, according to the latest notification from the Romanian veterinary agency. Located in the southern county of Olt, the farm had close to 24,200 swine, of which more than 80 died. The country’s other seven outbreaks involved backyard herds, each with between two and seven animals.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s animal health authority has notified WOAH of just one ASF outbreak in domestic pigs over the past week. Affected was a backyard herd comprising 39 swine in the central province of Vinnytsia.
Latest update of the national ASF bulletin in Italy includes one further confirmed outbreak. It appears to involve more than 5,415 pigs at a farm in the Lombardy region. It is the sixth outbreak in domestic pigs to be confirmed in the province of Lodi.
Since the country’s first ASF cases in January 2022, this source puts Italy’s total outbreaks in this population at 46. Directly impacted have been close to 30,200 pigs. While the majority (30) of the outbreaks have occurred in Lombardy, Italy’s other ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs have been in the regions of Calabria, Lazio (Rome) and Piedmont. A small number of cases previously detected on the island of Sardinia are no longer included by this source in the national total.
Further wild boar cases in 8 European countries
As of October 16, the EC system had registered a total of 5,166 outbreaks of ASF in the wild boar populations of 21 European states for the year to date.
For comparison, the EC logged more than 7,900 outbreaks in this category in 20 countries across the region during the whole of 2023.
So far in 2024, the most outbreaks have been confirmed in Poland (1,456) and Italy (1,146). Next come Latvia (664), Germany (511) and Lithuania (458).
Compared with the disease situation on October 9, the following nations registered further cases in wild boar with the EC: Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Latest update from Poland’s chief veterinary office puts the country’s total outbreaks in the wild population so far this year at 1,477 (as of October 18).
So far this month, all of the 68 confirmed ASF cases in German wild boar have been detected in the central state of Hesse, and in Brandenburg in the east of the country. This is according to national veterinary agency, the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute.
Over the past week, the Czech veterinary agency has registered with WOAH one further ASF case in a wild boar. Found in mid-August, this brings the country’s total cases for the year to date to 27. All have been found in the Liberec region in the north of the Czech Republic (Czechia).
View our continuing coverage of the global African swine fever situation.
