The northern Italian region of Lombardy has seen almost 34,000 pigs culled in an effort to control an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).
The country first reported infections of the disease in pigs in 2002 and the latest outbreak in Lombardy, the region with the largest number of bred pigs, shows the spread is worsening, Reuters reports.
A regional government spokesperson said: “In Lombardy there are half of the pigs bred in Italy, around 5 million out of a total of 10 million Italian pigs. Our objective is to extinguish this outbreak .. so that the problem does not become a danger for the supply chain of the entire Italian sector.” The risk of further spread has lessened for now, with the current outbreak under control.
The disease has spelled disaster for many pig producers across the world, causing fatalities in most cases and leaving farmers in financial difficulties.
Francesco Feliziani, head of the National Centre for Swine Flu, reported that, since 2022, ASF has mainly infected wild board in Italy, with only a few isolated cases in pigs.