Germany: Central Crisis Team discusses spread of ASF
The Central Crisis Team is the overarching political decision-making body in the event of an animal disease outbreak. The members of the crisis team are the heads of the relevant federal and state ministries responsible for combating animal diseases. They discuss measures of supra-regional and political importance and, if necessary, decide on a uniform national approach.
State Secretary Silvia Bender explains : "We are following the spread of African swine fever very closely. Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate are doing an excellent job in containing the epidemic, as confirmed by the EUVET mission at the beginning of July. The federal government, together with the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, is supporting the responsible federal states in the usual manner, for example in epidemiological investigations or in coordinating measures and exclusion zone areas with theEU Stopping the spread is a mammoth task and important for our pig farms. Citizens can also take responsibility here by being careful. If in doubt, a carelessly thrown away sausage sandwich is enough, because the virus can also be introduced via infected food. We will also be launching a new information campaign to raise people's awareness - for example at motorway service stations, especially now during the summer travel season".
TheASF was first detected in Germany in 2020 in a wild boar in Schenkendöbern (Spree-Neiße district) in Brandenburg. Since then, the disease has continued to spread. In addition to Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, infected animals have now also been found in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, most recently in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate (wild boars) and in the Groß-Gerau district in Hesse (kept pigs). However, this is a different serotype of the pathogen, so it cannot be assumed that it was carried from the eastern federal states to Hesse. An affected farm near Stockstadt keeps more than 1,100 pigs. The entire herd was killed for reasons of disease control. Other pig herds, albeit with much smaller numbers of animals, were also killed and other measures prescribed by animal health law were taken.
The viral disease is incurable for wild and domestic pigs and is almost always fatal. The disease is transmitted directly from animal to animal, for example through contact with blood or the carcasses of infected animals. Indirect transmission is also possible, for example via contaminated objects such as agricultural equipment, hunting equipment, clothing, shoes and feed or food. For humans and other animal species, theASF is harmless – even when eating meat or sausage products from infected animals.
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