The viral disease African swine fever, which is rare in Germany, was first detected in Hesse. It was probably spread there by humans, said a spokesman for the hunting association.
In Hesse, African swine fever has been detected in a wild boar – this is the first case in the state. After the dying animal was killed south of Rüsselsheim am Main in the Groß-Gerau district, the B sample of a test came back positive, as the spokesman for the German Hunting Association, Torsten Reinwald, told the German Press Agency on Saturday. The Friedrich Loeffler Institute, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, has confirmed the test result from the Hesse State Laboratory, the Hesse Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture announced.
According to the ministry, a so-called restriction zone with a general hunting ban is to be set up within a radius of around 15 kilometers around the site of the discovery. In addition to the Groß-Gerau district, the Main-Taunus district, the Darmstadt-Dieburg and Offenbach districts, and the cities of Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden are also in this zone. It is also planned that the Groß-Gerau district’s veterinary office and emergency services will set up the first carcass collection point, including a disinfection lock, on Monday.
African swine fever is a contagious viral disease in domestic and wild pigs that is almost always fatal and incurable. There is no way to protect pigs through vaccination. The disease can be transmitted directly from animal to animal or indirectly to humans via contaminated objects such as clothing and shoes and feed. The disease is not contagious or dangerous for humans or other animal species.
According to Reinwald, the virus was probably spread by humans, for example through sausage waste. The district veterinary office and numerous hunters are now searching for other affected animals. Drones are also being used for this purpose.
Reinwald appealed to citizens to report any wild boars that were behaving abnormally or were dead to the police immediately. They should also stay away from them so as not to spread the virus, for example, via the soles of their shoes. In 2020, the first case of ASF in a wild boar in Germany was confirmed in Brandenburg. According to the hunting association spokesman, the main areas of spread in Germany have been Saxony and Brandenburg, and there have also been isolated cases in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Baden-Württemberg.
