African swine fever is a serious and contagious viral disease that affects wild boars and pigs, but does not affect humans or other animals.
It is not yet known how the infection got to Sweden. inform Statens veterinärmedicinska anstalt (SVA) on Wednesday.
Since August 25, seven dead boars have been found in the Fagersta area, about 17 miles northwest of Stockholm. So far, African swine fever has been detected in one of the animals, while SVA is awaiting samples from the other wild boar.
African swine fever was first detected in Europe in 2007, and in the European Union in 2014. But the disease has not yet been registered in the Nordic region, according to a Norwegian agency. Veterinary Institute. Most animals that contract this virus will die.
Denmark, which is one of the world’s biggest pork exporters, has put up a border fence out of fear that the infected wild boar came from Germany.
The virus can spread through pork, but also through shoes, tools and vehicles.
– We still don’t know how it was transmitted, but it is far from the nearest European region of infection, and therefore we assume that it was transmitted through humans and not wild boar, says Swedish state epizootiologist Karl Ståhl at SVA.
– There is currently a wide spread of infection in Europe. There are countries that have succeeded in eradicating this disease, and that is our national goal, added Ståhl.
(© NTB)
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