Since the start of 2026, presence of the African swine fever (ASF) virus has been detected on 21 farms in South Korea.
The nation’s first cases of the year were confirmed on January 16, and the latest outbreak was recorded by the agriculture ministry last week. There were approximately 5,200 pigs at the most recent outbreak site, which was in the southern province of South Gyeongsang. ASF outbreaks have hit farms in seven of the country’s cities/provinces so far this year.
This latest outbreak brings the total since ASF was first detected in the country in 2019 to 76. During the whole of 2025, there were just six outbreaks on South Korean pig farms.
As of March 1, 4,393 wild boar have also tested positive for the virus since 2019, reports local media Pig People (as of March 1) — 14 more than the previous week.
Troubled by a growing incidence of ASF as well as avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease in the country this year, the ministry has announced a one-month extension to the country’s special quarantine period. As a result, additional disease control measures will remain in place until March 31.
ASF developments elsewhere in Asia
Veterinary authorities in Nepal have officially notified the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about two further ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs.
Presence of the virus was detected on two premises described as “farms” in the westernmost province of Sudurpashchim in the last week of February. Affected were a total of 23 swine of around four months of age.
According to this source, around 26,400 pigs have been directly involved in ASF outbreaks at 58 premises in Nepal since the virus was first detected there in March 2022.
In January, two outbreaks of ASF were reported in Indonesia. Both herds were located in North Sumatra province, according to the latest update on the ASF situation in the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The same source records 120 outbreaks in Vietnam in just the first three weeks of 2026. More than 5,400 pigs were culled as a result of the outbreaks, which occurred in 22 cities/provinces of the country. In Papua New Guinea, one ASF outbreak was confirmed in West Sepik province in January, FAO reports.
During the first six months of 2025, 66 ASF outbreaks occurred in India, according to a summary report recently submitted to WOAH. Directly impacted by these events were almost 100,000 swine in 14 different states. In terms of outbreaks, Sikkim and Assam were the worst affected states over that period.
Taiwan’s first and only ASF outbreak to date started in October 2025.
Subsequent investigations linked the source of infection to deficiencies in the on-farm processing of food wastes fed as swill to pigs.
Last week, Taipei Times reported that the owners of the affected farm have been indicted for trying to hide evidence of the outbreak.
It is alleged that they falsified evidence by forging documents and filing false reports under the relevant legislation. Furthermore, they did not notify the authorities when the mortality rate of their pigs increased sharply. This fraud is said to have seriously harmed Taiwanese interests, and prosecutors are calling for heavy sentences for the pair.
Japan records classical swine fever in pigs, wild boar
Abnormalities in weaned pigs at a farm in the Maebashi city area were investigated by the agriculture ministry last week. Subsequent testing determined the presence of the classical swine fever (CSF) virus, and all of the approximately 2,000 swine will be culled and destroyed.
This brings the nation’s total CSF outbreaks to 101 since September 2018. The country had previously been free of the disease since 1982.
Four of Japan’s six CSF outbreaks in 2025 occurred in Maebashi city, which is located in Gunma prefecture in the Kanto region in central Honshu.
The nation’s previous outbreak was confirmed in Kiryu city, also in Gunma prefecture, in October 2025.
Furthermore, WOAH has been recently notified by Japan’s animal health authority about a further 284 CSF outbreaks involving the wild boar population.
Affected were a total of 673 cases detected during the months of August to December 2025 across 37 prefectures, including Gunma.
Like ASF, CSF (also known as hog cholera) is a notifiable disease that affects members of the pig family, according to the WOAH CSF page.
Both diseases cause devastating losses in domestic and wild populations, but do not impact human health. Despite the similar names and impacts, CSF and ASF are caused by unrelated viruses.
To date, ASF virus has never been detected in Japan.
New ASF cases in Europe's domestic pigs
So far this year, six of the region’s states have logged a total of 52 ASF outbreaks involving farmed swine.
This is according to the Animal Disease Information System from the European Commission (EC; as of February 25). With the system, the EC monitors developments in selected listed animal diseases in European Union (EU) member states and adjacent countries.
At 44, Romania’s outbreak total is the highest, followed by Serbia (13).
Within Europe, the number of outbreaks this year continues at the relatively low rates recorded in 2024 and 2025, and well below the high incidence in 2023.
Over the previous week, the Romanian total increased by 10, and that of Serbia by five.
Notifications to WOAH offer more information on these developments.
In recent days, the veterinary authority of Romania has registered a further eight ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs with the agency.
Among the premises recently hit by the virus was a farm in the northeastern county of Neamt. Of the 8,672 animals there, 25 died.
Across five counties, two instances of the dumping of infected pig carcasses and five backyard outbreaks completed the latest Romanian total.
Starting in the period February 13-25 were six further ASF outbreaks reported to WOAH by Serbia.
With 114 swine, one of the affected premises is described as a “farm,” while the others were backyard herds, each comprising between two and 30 animals. All were located in central and western districts where previous outbreaks have recently been confirmed.
Region’s ASF wild boar case total approaches 2,000
A total of 209 ASF cases in the wild boar population were reported through the EC system by 11 European countries in the period February 19-26.
Registering the most new outbreaks in this category were Hungary (45), Poland (41), Italy (33), Romania (19) and Latvia (15).
With 376, the Polish total continues to be the highest so far in 2026. Next come Bulgaria (273), Italy (242), Hungary (215), Latvia (211), Lithuania (189) and Romania (153). Other countries with ASF-positive wild boar this year have registered fewer than 60 outbreaks to date.
Among the details revealed in a recent notification to WOAH from the authorities in Italy is the first ASF case in Modena. This is the fourth province to detect the virus in wild boar in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna.
In contrast to the ASF situation in domestic pigs, the number of outbreaks involving European wild boar appears to be growing over successive years. The general trend since 2024 has been for a year-on-year increase for each month. Peak period for the detection of wild boar cases in the region has been December to April.
Latest update on ASF in Spain from the agriculture ministry (dated February 26) puts the number of ASF outbreaks at 33, involving 195 wild boar. These animals were trapped or culled in one of seven municipalities in the Barcelona area in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
So far, no ASF cases have been detected on Spanish pig farms.
It has been suggested that the relatively low ASF-related mortality rate among wild boar in Spain is the result of a deletion event in the virus gene. This is according to a recent assessment of the disease situation across Europe by the U.K. department for the environment, food and rural affairs, Defra. An alternative explanation is low virus transmissibility in the area.
While the ASF virus circulating in Catalonia belongs to genotype II — the same one detected elsewhere in Europe — a change in the sequence puts it into a new subgroup of genotype II.
View our continuing coverage of the global African swine fever situation.
