The conclusions of the Ministerial Conference on African swine fever

Last friday, at the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development a meeting was held between the Ministers of Agriculture and Chief Veterinary Officers from Estonia, Russian Federation, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Polish, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary and the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis.

The subject of the talks were the measures taken in the fight against African swine fever (ASF) virus.

The meeting of the representatives of eleven Member States with Commissioner Andriukaitis ended with the adoption of twelve joint conclusions, including:

• African swine fever (ASF) is clearly a regional problem involving several countries that requires high engagement at technical and political levels. ASF is best tackled with closer international coordination, coupled with transparency and regular exchanges of epidemiological information between countries and more integrated and coherent cross-border efforts supported by international initiatives (GF-TADs).

• The main risks for ASF transmission in the region are associated with the persistence of the virus in wild boar and their environment and its entry in low biosecurity pig holdings.

• ASF occurrence is not dependent only on the wild boar density and one of the main problems is the persistence of the virus in contaminated carcases in the forest. The objective should be reducing the viral load in the environment. For that, understanding, involvement and engagement of all actors such as wild life specialists, ecologist, hunters, forest guards and forest workers ,environmentalists, farmers, police, etc. is needed.

• Wild boar management is a sophisticated strategic activity that has to be adapted to local conditions and practices. Massive hunting in the ASF affected and neighbouring areas is counterproductive as it leads to increased movements of wild boar and is not the most effective measure to reduce the spread of ASF. However, increasing hunting pressure can be applied in the free area of the country to decrease of the susceptible wild animals population. Wild boar population control, specially through targeted careful hunting of in particular adult and sub-adult females and adequate bans on sustained wild boar feeding (except baiting for hunting purposes) , together with carcases removal and safe disposal are the most efficient and necessary disease management measures. However, more information is still needed on the most efficient means for controlling the wild boar population as well as better tools to estimate the population size.

• Biosecurity is of crucial importance to prevent the entry and spread of ASF in pig holdings, both in the commercial and non-commercial pig sectors. Minimum biosecurity measures should be implemented in risk areas even by smallholder pig owners. The Veterinary Services are due to provide basic information to pig holders to increase awareness and to support the strengthening of biosecurity. Also pig transporters, feed and equipment providers, any workers and other professionals visiting or working temporarily at pig farms need to be trained for biosecurity measures.

• The current disease situation with vast areas affected by ASF suggests that we are still far from the total eradication of the disease from Europe and we have to be ready for an intense and long fight against this disease. All delegations agree on working together to develop mid and long term, sustainable strategies to manage its direct and indirect impact at all levels (trade, farming sector, hunters, environment authorities, veterinary services, etc.).

• All participating countries and the European Commission agree to continue to support regional coordination, data sharing and scientific cooperation through active participation and promotion of international meetings, especially those organised under the umbrella of GF-TADs (OIE/FAO). A regional plan describing a long term strategy should be developed, for pig sector and wild boar management in particular in the context of the GF-TADs meetings.

• All countries and the European Commission should work together to secure additional financial support and other technical resources needed for ASF combat with emphasis on cross-border coordinated actions. The EU will continue to complement, when needed and proportionate to its own capacity, the national resources as regards the most adequate eligible disease control measures.

Furthermore, a representative of the Russian Federation, present during the talks, said that the talks were a good, new step in combating the spread of ASF virus.