Swine fever found in Germany putting pork exports at risk
BERLIN/HAMBURG (Reuters) – Germany confirmed on Thursday that African swine fever (ASF) had been found in a dead wild boar near its border with Poland, threatening pork exports to China from Europe’s biggest pork producer, which were worth $1.2 billion (921.23 million pounds) last year.
Authorities in the German state of Brandenburg quarantined a 15-km (9-mile) area around where the boar was found to search for any more dead animals and also restricted the movement of farm animals.
South Korea, Germany’s second largest pigmeat customer outside the European Union, announced a ban on German pork imports.
The disease is not dangerous to humans but it is fatal to pigs and a massive outbreak in China, the world’s biggest pork producer, has led to hundreds of millions of pigs being culled.
Major pork importers such as China often impose bans on imports from countries where ASF has been found, even if only in wild animals.
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