Italy: ASF update one year after confirmation

One year after the first case of African swine fever (ASF) in Italy, outside the island of Sardinia, the Extraordinary National Commissioner for the ASF emergency in Italy reported on the actions taken to date.

Since the first detection of the disease, 977 wild boars have been sacrificed in Piedmont and 1,977 domestic pigs have been depopulated and sacrificed, along with 745 pigs in Lombardy, 450 in Liguria, and 285 in Lazio.

Some important dates to note since the first appearance of the disease:

• February 25, 2022: appointment of the National Commissioner
• July 4, 2022: 10 million euros allocated by the Ministry of Health for the African swine fever emergency with the construction of 170 km of fences in 40 municipalities between Piedmont and Liguria.
• May 5, 2022: first case in Lazio, no new cases since September 21, 2022
• As of January 4, 2023, 236 total positive cases between Piamonte and Liguria

A total of 43,500 posts, 90 tons of metal materials, and 500 gates were used. Despite the efforts made, 105 km of the planned 170 km of containment network is still missing.

The National Commissioner has published the following video reporting the actions taken against ASF (video provided by the National Commissioner Dr. Angelo Ferrari).

For more information on ASF visit our section on African swine fever.