Chicks atop images from a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

EU’s bird flu outbreaks reach Poland

Country's outbreaks hit farms totalling 650,000 birds

Paris | Reuters — Poland has reported several outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu at poultry farms with flocks totalling nearly 650,000 birds, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday. Poland is the European Union’s largest poultry producer. Five outbreaks, of which four were at fattening turkey farms and one at […] Read more

File photo of domestic hogs on a German farm. (FooTToo/iStock/Getty Images)

Germany reports first suspected case of African swine fever

German producers currently exporting pork to China

Berlin | Reuters — Germany’s ministry of food and agriculture said on Wednesday it had a suspected case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The suspected case concerned a wild boar carcass found near the German-Polish border. A sample of the carcass was being taken for […] Read more

File photo of a hog farmer with piglets in Poland. (Zuberka/iStock/Getty Images)

African swine fever spreads near German border

Paris | Reuters — Poland recorded 55 outbreaks of African swine fever in wild boar near the German border last month, the world animal health body said on Thursday, in a sign the deadly virus is spreading near one of the European Union’s biggest pork exporters. A report posted on the World Organization for Animal […] Read more

Should the African swine fever virus be found in Canada, zones would also be set up here. The United States (which imports $1.2 billion in Canadian pork annually) and Japan are the top destinations. Canada has an agreement with the U.S. to maintain trade in cases of pork disease through zoning procedures and is pursuing such an agreement with Japan.

Opinion: Buying pork from Poland ultimately the right move

Canada would use similar zone system if African swine fever was found

It is painful to watch the spread of African swine fever through parts of Asia and Europe, yet Canada’s decision to keep accepting imports of pork from Poland is pragmatic. Since Canada would follow the same procedures Poland is ostensibly now employing, there is a duty to play this out. ASF has never been found […] Read more

Sources: European Reference Laboratory; The Pirbright Institute.

Canada imports pork from Poland, despite African swine fever

If the disease appears in Canada, countries could ban imports of Canadian pork and cause billions in economic damage

Canada continues to import pork from Poland, even though it has had hundreds of cases of ASF. For the first 11 months of 2018, Canada imported more than $25 million worth of pork from Poland, based on Agriculture Canada data. Infected meat is the primary vector of ASF, a viral disease that can cause fever, […] Read more



A barley field in France. (Anneke DeBlok/iStock/Getty Images)

France to the rescue as drought hits EU barley crop

Hamburg | Reuters — Drought has seriously damaged barley harvests in northern Europe, potentially tightening supplies of animal feed and malt for beer brewing, but a decent crop in France could save the day, experts said on Thursday. “There are painful crop losses in Germany, Poland, Britain and Scandinavia,” one German trader said. “The volume […] Read more

Poland’s top court says ban on kosher slaughter unconstitutional

Warsaw | Reuters — Poland’s top court ruled Wednesday a ban on traditional Jewish slaughter methods was unconstitutional, bringing relief to Jews in a country scarred by Nazi Germany’s Holocaust. A previous 2012 court verdict had effectively banned Jewish production of kosher meat, backing animal rights groups who said it was cruel to kill animals […] Read more