Ireland’s agriculture minister, Michael Creed, has warned that people travelling to countries where African swine fever is present should not bring pork products back to Ireland.
The Times reported that Mr Creed is seeking to protect the pig-farming industry, whose exports amounted to €666 million (£562.8m) last year.
He said that African swine fever was a “very serious” disease that poses significant risks to the farming pig sector.
Mr Creed said that anyone coming back from affected countries over the Christmas holidays should not bring back any pork and added that the virus that causes swine fever “can survive for months in cooked or cured meats”, which if fed to pigs can spread the disease.
He added that people who keep pigs should not feed food waste to the animals.