Skip to main content

African swine fever: EFSA assesses control measures to prevent spread

Hunting is not a tool to drastically reduce the risk of introduction and spread of African swine fever virus in wild boar populations. Artificial feeding of wild boar might increase rather than reduce the risk of spread. Further knowledge is required to conclude if fencing could be used as one possible element of a control programme and to assess the feasibility of its implementation. These are some of the findings of EFSA’s scientific advice on control measures to reduce the spread of the virus among wild boar, delivered following an urgent request from the European Commission. African swine fever is a viral disease that is harmless to humans but deadly to pigs, and wild boar. At the end of January, Poland and Lithuania reported cases of African swine fever in wild boar.