During yesterday's meeting, Jakub Kubacki briefly reported on the current course of the ASF outbreak season. As he emphasized, the news is not positive, although it is not tragic either. The total number of outbreaks confirmed so far is only slightly higher than in the same period last year, and some regions where plague occurred last year are either currently free of the disease or only single outbreaks have been confirmed there. However, what is happening in Greater Poland in recent weeks is disturbing:
– It is disturbing that in Greater Poland we are dealing with the occurrence of ASF in areas previously free from the disease (e.g. in Piła County). This is dangerous because it may be the result of ASF not being detected in the wild boar population in this area. On the other hand, we are conducting intensive searches for wild boars in these areas (including using dogs and drones) and so far we have not confirmed any outbreak of ASF in wild boars. This may mean that either the animal population is very rare, or that the source of infection in pigs was an isolated disease in a wild boar – said the deputy Chief Veterinary Officer during the subcommittee meeting.
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Epizootic investigations are ongoing
As Jakub Kubacki added, three investigative teams are working in Greater Poland to demonstrate how the virus entered farms.
– One of them works directly in the Gniezno poviat, the other analyzes documentation from the voivodeship. The third one checks whether the disease was transmitted by farm staff – zootechnicians, veterinarians or companies collecting carcasses – explained Jakub Kubacki during the meeting.
There were gaps in biosecurity
The expert also referred to the state of biosecurity measures on the inspected farms. As he said, farms usually had appropriate equipment, such as mats or disinfection locks. The most common irregularities concern the human factor, i.e. failure to follow appropriate procedures, such as changing shoes and clothes, disinfecting hands or tools. These are all things that the breeder can influence.
The Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer also confirmed the information provided to our editorial office last week: monitoring of Aujeszky's disease has been suspended in areas subject to temporary restrictions (until the end of August). As he said, this will be a big challenge for the Inspection, because international regulations oblige Poland to examine a certain number of herds. Therefore, the suspension of monitoring will have to be made up in the fall.
Moreover, in restricted areas, the Chief Veterinary Officer recommended that the need to enter facilities should be limited to a minimum when inspecting herds by the Veterinary Inspection.
