Summary of ASF in 2022 in Poland
The occurrence of ASF in pigs on a farm entails the immediate liquidation of the herd and disposal of the killed animals. All items and substances that may have been contaminated with the virus are also destroyed. A farm where ASF has been found is subject to cleaning and disinfection. Therefore, Polish pig farmers were a little pleased with the published summary, but realize that this is not the end of the fight against this major threat to their production.
In 2022, 2113 outbreaks were confirmed in feral pig populations and 14 outbreaks in swine herds. The extent of African Swine Fever zones has decreased significantly. The largest number of cases was confirmed in the Dolnośląskie, followed by the Lubuskie, Warmian-Masurian and Wielkopolska (Greater Poland). There has been a large decrease in the incidence of the disease in both feral pigs and swine herds (The last outbreak of the disease was observed in mid-September). Throughout 2022, the disease was confirmed in 2 566 boars.
As a result of the elimination of outbreaks, 3064 pigs died or were slaughtered (in fact, in 2021, more than 41 000 animals were eliminated following the disease, a huge decrease). So both the incidence of the disease in wild boars and in pig herds has seen a large decrease in cases.
The statistics show that ASF is on the retreat. In practice, however, it may be very unwise to ignore the disease. Poland is still a long way from being free of ASF.
This is shown by data from the first three weeks of January. This is because 251 cases of the disease have already been reported, which gives an average of more than 80 outbreaks per week. Last week, exactly 81 of them were recorded, the vast majority of them - as many as 70 in the Dolnośląskie province. In total, in ASF outbreaks the disease was confirmed in 89 animals. Most of them were fallen boars.