African Swine Fever

African swine fever (ASF) is a viral disease of pigs and wild boar that is usually fatal. In countries where the disease is present, it causes huge economic losses, threatens food security and safe trade, and presents huge challenges to pig production.

Although extensive research continues, there is no cure or commercially available vaccine for ASF.

ASF affects suidae i.e all types of pigs including wild boar. Domestic pigs and wild boar usually suffer devastating effects of clinical disease when they become infected with the virus.

In parts of Africa, where ASF is endemic (i.e. the virus is continually circulating at low levels) wild bush pigs and warthogs can become infected without showing clinical signs.

Ireland is free of ASF. Furthermore, Ireland has never had a confirmed case of the disease.

ASF was first described in Kenya in 1921, and is currently present in more than 50 countries worldwide including China where the disease was first confirmed in 2018. China accounts for over half of the world’s pig population, with the effects of ASF having huge economic and food security impacts right across the continent of Asia.

Since 2007, the disease has been spreading in Eastern Europe and first entered the European Union in 2014. ASF has since been confirmed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Italy. To date, the only countries within the EU to have successfully eradicated the disease are the Czech Republic and Belgium.

The virus does not affect humans or animal species other than pigs. Meat from pigs does not pose any food safety risk.

ASF should not be confused with Swine Influenza (Swine flu) which is caused by a different virus.

ASF can be spread by several different ways.

Spread of the virus can be through direct contact of pigs with infected pigs or their bodily fluids or through indirect contact through feeding food waste containing contaminated pork or pork products. The virus can also be spread when pigs come into contact with materials which have become contaminated with virus e.g., clothing, footwear, equipment, vehicles etc

In some countries, the disease can be spread by a soft tick (Ornithodorus erraticus spp.). This tick is not found in Ireland.

The virus can survive for months or even years in pork and pork meat products including cured meats, hams, sausages and salamis. In Ireland, infection through feeding food waste containing contaminated pork or pork products is the most likely method of introducing the virus. If pigs eat food waste that contains infected meat it can cause an outbreak of the disease.

Remember, it is illegal to feed food waste containing meat to farm animals as it can spread African swine fever as well as other diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease.

Clinical signs of ASF commonly appear between 4 and 7 days following infection but a range of 3 to 15 days has been reported. Once a pig starts to show signs of disease, these are often severe and usually fatal. When the disease has been present in a country for a long time, chronic cases of the disease can occur.

The main clinical signs of African swine fever are:

• High temperature
• Reddening of the skin
• Haemorrhages
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Sudden death
• Abortion in pregnant pigs

Information leaflets

ASF is a notifiable disease under both National and European legislation. If you suspect that your pigs are or may be affected by ASF, you must contact DAFM.

To report a suspect case, please contact your local Regional Veterinary Office (RVO) (9am-5pm). Outside of office hours, you can ring the National Disease Emergency Hotline on 01-492-8026 (which is operational 365 days of the year).

Pig owners and members of the public can play their part in protecting pig health by taking the following precautions:

• Never feed food waste (swill) to livestock, including pigs. It is illegal to feed food waste which contains meat products or has been in contact with meat products to pigs. Feeding of meat products to pigs can lead to outbreaks of diseases such as Foot and Mouth disease, African swine fever and Classical swine fever. See the guidance document below for details on what should and should not be fed to pigs.

• Always use a secure bin to dispose of waste food, so that it cannot be accessed by farm animals, wild animals or wild birds

• Do not bring meat or meat products onto Irish pig farms

• Do not bring meat products into Ireland from outside the EU
• If you have been in contact with pigs in a region affected by African swine fever, you should not visit any pig premises in Ireland for a minimum of 72 hours

It is vital that everybody plays their part to keep African swine fever out of Ireland for the sake of our pigs, our pig farmers and our Agri-food Industry.

• Travel responsibly to avoid carrying ASF virus - YouTube

International hauliers, especially those who transport livestock, should be aware of biosecurity measures they should take when travelling to or through ASF affected regions of Europe.

Hunters travelling to countries affected by ASF should also follow biosecurity advice to prevent introduction of the virus.

The key role of hunters in the control of ASF in the European Union

Biosecurity is the combination of all measures, whether physical or through management, taken to reduce the risk of introduction and spread of diseases. Biosecurity is the basis of all disease control programs, as improved biosecurity will result in lower rates of disease overall. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to biosecurity as the circumstances of each farm or premises are unique. Therefore, biosecurity measures must be tailored to each individual setting.

Biosecurity is about preventing disease from getting in to a premises but also in the event of an outbreak, minimising spread within a premises and ensuring that disease doesn’t get out to infect other pigs.

Biosecurity does not have to be expensive. Small changes can have a large impact e.g. disinfection points for boots at the entrance/exits to all pig housing, wearing clean overalls and footwear when entering pig houses, handwashing.

The best protection for your herd against pig diseases, is a strong biosecurity policy. Good biosecurity improves overall herd health and productivity by helping to keep out disease. In the event of an outbreak, it also limits the spread of disease within and off your premises.

• More information can be found on Biosecurity in the documents below:

Anyone who keeps pigs in Ireland (even 1 or 2 pigs as pets) must register their premises with DAFM. This is a legal requirement.

Registering your premises and herd details is important, as it enables the Department to contact you, where necessary, with information on pig health and welfare in the event of a disease threat such as African swine fever.

To learn more about pig registration and how to do it, click here. Alternatively, you can contact your Regional Veterinary Office.

An outbreak of ASF would have a devastating effect on Irish pigs, as well as the wider pig industry here as it would impact on Ireland’s ability to export pigs and pig products to other countries.

In the event of an outbreak of ASF in Ireland, measures would be introduced by DAFM to control and eradicate the disease. These measures would include for example, the culling of pigs on the affected premises and the establishment of restriction zones (3km and 10km) surrounding the affected premises where additional controls would be implemented for the movement of pigs, pig products etc. Additional surveillance would also be carried out to monitor for any potential spread of the disease.

Find our most recent updates on African swine fever below:

2024

2023

2022

• African Swine Fever updates 2017 to 2021

Videos

• African swine fever: EFSA assesses measures to prevent spread EFSA (europa.eu)
• A message from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine on African swine fever

Useful Websites

• African Swine Fever - Animal Health Surveillance Website
• European Commission DG SANCO - Disease Information and Control Plans: African Swine Fever - European Commission
• Animal Disease Notification System – contains a link to overview reports which are updated frequently: Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) - European Commission
• World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) - African swine fever
• World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE): Disease Information Card
• DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs UK): African swine fever: how to spot and report the disease - GOV.UK
• DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Northern Ireland): African Swine Fever - Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs