Has the Spread of African Swine Fever in the European Union Been Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic?
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(9)2022 04 28.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1820234
ABSTRACT
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, listed as notifiable by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). It causes substantial economic losses to pig farming in the affected countries, with consequent enormous damage to livestock production due to mortality of the animals, and to the restrictions on national and international trade in pigs and derivative products that the presence of the infection implies. To prevent or reduce the risk of ASF introduction, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the OIE recommend preventive and control measures, such as the ban of live swine and their products traded from ASF-affected to ASF-free countries or zones. The current spread of ASF into Europe poses a serious risk to the industrialized and small-scale pig sector, as demonstrated by observed cases in different EU areas. In this paper the authors discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ASF, and the indirect effects including the impact on animal health and disease management. They suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected animal disease surveillance control. ASF requires rapid responses and continuous monitoring to identify outbreaks and prevent their spread, and both aspects may have been greatly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
African Swine Fever
/
African Swine Fever Virus
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph19095360
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