infected in 2017. The country managed to restrict the out- breaks to 223 wild boar and no domestic pigs were infected. In April this year, the Czech Republic was declared to be free from ASF again.


Expanding ASF infected zones Dr Houdart mentioned that the affected zones have been con- tinuously expanded since the first outbreaks. Each time it hap- pened, new farms had to be checked. In case biosecurity turned out not to be top notch, euthanasia of pigs was compulsory. Dr Houdart also touched on fencing in the areas affected by ASF. They served a triple purpose, he said, being: • To avoid the spread of disease by keeping the wild boar fenced in;


• To facilitate hunting; and • To avoid repopulation. He explained that simple metallic fencing was used, of which over 100km was put into place. This was locally reinforced by repellents. He did mention, however, one challenge to this type of approach is that there are motorways or villages causing fragmentation of the fencing.


The EU view on managing ASF With outbreaks in Belgium appearing to be under control, it’s interesting to zoom out and see what the human factor has led to in other zones within the EU. Dr Andrea Gavinelli, on behalf of DG-Sante, part of the European Commission, pre- sented the ASF situation in Europe from a helicopter angle. Apart from Belgium, the virus can also be found in the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy. Italy – or rather the island of Sardinia – is an exception in this list, as the virus has been endemic there for many years. Dr Gavinelli gave some interesting figures, i.e. that the EU member states with ASF together represent 18.4% of the pig production and took care of 18.2% of all exports (prior to the outbreaks). He also summarised how many farm outbreaks have been taking place in the EU and most notably Romania jumped out with 1,164 outbreaks in domestic pigs in 2018 alone (see Table 1). No wonder then that in all EU ASF maps of Europe, Romania received a red colour. Dr Gavinelli summed up a host of fields where the EU plays an important and coordinating role, like e.g. regionalisation, legislation, scientific advice, research, preparedness, audits, financial support, guidance, public awareness, urgent intervention and international cooperation.


Minimising the negative impact of ASF With regard to regionalisation, Dr Gavinelli said that this concept is being applied to “minimise the negative impact of disease outbreaks on the EU single market and on exports”. Again, the importance of the human factor was emphasised when he touched on key elements for successful regionalisation:


• Flexibility/predictability; • Transparency; • Risk-based/proportionality; • Rapidity. Dr Gavinelli mentioned a total of roughly € 95 million had been spent on programmes and emergency measures imple- mented by the member states to combat ASF. From his over- view emerged a picture that roughly half of that amount is for research programmes; the other half for emergency measures.


Next EU steps in the fight against ASF For the EU, Dr Gavinelli said, next steps will focus on scientific research, risk assessment, reviewing the European measures for ASF, maintaining the highest political involvement and keeping the dialogues going with third countries. As if he wanted to emphasise how important it is to influence human behaviour, those steps are complemented by financial support and awareness campaigns.


Table 1 – ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs, May 2019.


2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019


Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 Estonia (last Sept 19, 2017)


0 2 18 6 3 0 1 20 81 109


10 13


3 8 19 30


10 51


0


Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 Poland


32 6


2*


Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 1 0 Latvia (last Aug 15, 2018) Lithuania (last Oct 31, 2018)


40 42 48


* This amount has gone up to 25 (OIE, July 25, 2019). Source: Andrea Gavinelli, DG-Sante, European Commission; presentation at ESPHM, May 2019.


▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 35, No. 6, 2019 15


0 0


Romania 0 0 0 2 1,164 90 Grand total


124 1,335 92


Road signs in the Netherlands appeal to drivers of cars and trucks to pay attention to the risk of ASF – and not dispose of any garbage into the environment.


PHOTO: TWAN WIERMANS


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