Photo: Jan VullingsThe number of wild boar that have been found infected with African Swine Fever (ASF) virus in the German state North Rhine Westphalia has climbed further to 57.
The addition of these latest data go to show that also in August, fresh infections keep being found, now 10 this month. The good news about this all is that the virus does not seem to have spread geographically. All cases were found in already known infected areas, within the different infected zones. A few weeks back, the authorities in those states started putting up fences to avoid the migration of (infected) wild boar. It appears that that approach seems to be working.
Olpe district
The majority of cases continue to be found in Olpe district, with 49 dead wild boar in the neighbourhood of the towns Kirchhundem and Lennestadt. The other 8 cases were found in the neighbouring district Siegen-Wittgenstein, in the vicinity of the town Bad Berleburg.The other cases were found in July (36) and June (11).
Calabria
Earlier tests have proven that the virus genetically bears most resemblance to the virus strain of African Swine Fever that emerged in Calabria, southern Italy. That means, that likely there is no direct connection with the outbreaks currently going on in the area around Frankfurt-am-Main and Mannheim, about 100 km more south.
