Spread of African Swine Fever Continues in Multiple Regions

The Associate Director of the Swine Health Information Center says ongoing spread of African Swine Fever remains the main challenge facing the global pork sector

The Swine Health Information Center’s monthly global swine disease monitoring report, released as part of its May eNewsletter examines the continued spread of African Swine Fever.

SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says ASF remains the primary challenge across multiple regions, including Europe, Asia and Africa.

 

 “Many (countries) are continuing to still have challenges and face problems associated with ASF, not only in domestic swine populations but also in wild boar populations.”

 

“It really has seen a continued spread in multiple areas but also resurgence in areas that were once thought to have been quiet.

“For example, there’s been five different European countries that were positive over this last month, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, also in Serbia and Ukraine and Greece and Romania.
Sweden saw one of its first cases in 2024 from a wild boar diagnosis.

“Unfortunately, ASF has a very wide range globally and we have seen it have relatively rapid spread since 2018 in China and Asia, in Polynesia, as well as into the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean and Africa, so a lot of areas that have seen initial outbreaks of ASF.

“Many are continuing to still have challenges and face problems associated with ASF, not only in domestic swine populations but also in wild boar populations.

“Once example that can be noted on the global disease report is the spread across the Philippines and that is a visual showing of the progression of the disease across that nation and how it’s impacting their swine production.”

Dr. Becton notes other diseases include Classical Swine Fever, which has seen a resurgence in eastern Russia as well as Foot and Mouth Disease in other areas, such as Pakistan.
She says, even though ASF presents the main challenge, there still are other significant foreign animal diseases that will continue to be monitored.