A guide to understanding risks, responsibilities, and possible interventions

We share a contribution by Green Peace to the information on the swine fever issue that has seen many small farmers struggling with health guidelines.

“Almost two years after it first appeared in Piedmont, African swine fever (ASF) has also arrived on intensive farms in the Po Valley, where some 40,000 pigs have already been slaughtered. What has happened in these months? How did the virus spread to Italy? What can we expect now? We put these questions to Dr. Vittorio Guberti, ISPRA veterinarian and one of Europe’s leading experts on the subject.”

Dr. Guberti, let’s start with the basics: what is PSA?

“ASF is a tick-borne virus, native to the African continent, capable of infecting only wild suids such as warthogs, which, however, do not get sick. When Europeans brought pigs to the colonies, it was observed that the virus could infect and kill domestic pigs, and thus the disease we now call African swine fever originated. The African swine fever virus is a very resistant virus in the environment that is difficult to eradicate.”