ASF: Germany, Poland, Czech Republic agree on further coordinated control measures

At the initiative of the German Federal Minister, a trilateral structure - the so-called Animal Health Troika - was established in November at the level of the agriculture ministers of the three countries. This is because the ASF outbreaks in Germany are occurring in areas of Brandenburg and Saxony, in close proximity to the border with Poland. Some of the outbreaks in Saxony are only about 40 kilometers from the Czech Republic. In addition, sequencing of the virus type by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, has shown that the outbreaks in Germany and Poland are related. This makes it all the more important to view the outbreaks as a common epidemic and to act accordingly, said German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner.

In a joint statement, the ministers of the three countries agreed, among other things, the following:

• Control measures in border areas will be coordinated even more intensively. This includes, for example, carcass testing or the construction or maintenance of wild boar barriers.
• At a local and regional level, the exchange of information among those fighting the disease is to be cross-border, direct and uncomplicated between hunters, forestry officials, and veterinarians.
• In a joint initiative, the European Commission should be asked to make more financial resources available for compensation, control and prevention measures.
• Concrete agreements will be reached on the hunting of wild boar:
  • In general, hunting should be intensified in order to reduce the wild boar population and thus reduce the risk of further spread of the virus.
  • Driven hunts should be avoided at the border area (20 kilometers) so that no animals are scared off and the disease is thus spread - including across borders.