ASF Italy: Almost 35,000 pigs culled

This number of pigs had to be culled to stop further spread of the virus. It was confirmed by the Italian veterinary authorities.

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. The 22 farms include the 8 sites where ASF was found since mid-August 2023. The size of the farms varies from only 1 or a few pigs on-site to facilities with a maximum of 8,770 pigs on-site.

The largest pig farm that got infected had a size of 7,428 pigs at its premises. The other, non-infected farms were emptied because of epidemiological correlation (i.e. farms with links to the outbreaks) or preventive culling (geographical proximity).

All in all, the farms that got depopulated all fall within an area of 4 km², he said.

The exact total number to date of domestic pigs culled due African Swine Fever in Northern Italy is 34,942.

The culling took place between August 19 and September 21 of this year. It is anticipated that the situation in domestic pigs is now under control, Feliziani said. “We expect that the situation is currently under control and that the measures, although onerous and painful, have been effective and have allowed the spread of the infection to be contained.”

To news agency Reuters, a regional spokesperson for Lombardy shared a similar expectation, “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.