ASF found in wild boar in Greece   

A wild boar has been found with African swine fever (ASF) for the first time in mainland Greece.

The boar was found in the Central Macedonia region, a mountainous area of Greece about 7km from the Bulgarian border – ASF has been a known problem among the wild boar population for some years in Bulgaria.

Whilst this is the first outbreak in wild boar in Greece, ASF was detected in a backyard herd in February 2020 in Central Macedonia, about 40 km south of the current finding. This was an isolated case and of the 32 pigs on the farm only one tested positive.

The risk of ASF remains high for human-mediated transmission in the UK and the need for optimised biosecurity, both at a national and unit level remains the best approach.

The outbreak in a wild boar in Greece is a reminder there is a wildlife vector which is contributing to the movement of this notifiable disease in Europe; in this country we must be cognisant of this movement and any shift this this makes on the risk to the British pig herd.