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

An aerial view of a pig farm in Tauche, Germany.

Paradise lost looms for German farmers as swine fever nears

As swine fever is found in wild boar in Poland, many worry infected animals will cross the border

Reuters – The German state of Brandenburg has erected about 120 kilometres of electric fencing to prevent wild boars infected with African swine fever (ASF) from straying across the border from Poland and infecting its pig herd. Hans-Christian Daniels doesn’t think the barrier will work. “It looks rather inevitable that swine fever will come,” said […] Read more

Wild boar are especially concerning because of their disease transmission potential.

Wild boar groups small so far in Ontario

There is concern about growing numbers of feral hogs due to their potential role in African swine fever transmission

Reported sightings of large groups of wild pigs – known as “sounders” – in Ontario are still limited to one or two instances in the Parry Sound/Magnetawan district, although there are reported sightings across much of the rest of the province.. Government and non-governmental scientists tracking the animals’ movements believe Ontario still has the opportunity […] Read more

Wild boar in the western Czech Republic’s Lany game park. Wild boar in the country’s Sumava mountain region, further southwest, are turning up radioactive. (Lslany.cz)

Wild boars roam Czech forests, some of them radioactive

Prague | Reuters –– The Czech Republic has an unusual problem this winter with its wild boar meat, a local delicacy. The boars are radioactive. Actually, it’s not the boars themselves, but what they’re eating. A cold and snowy winter is forcing them to feed on false truffles, an underground mushroom common in the Sumava […] Read more

Wild boar must be PigTrace-compatible by July 1

Canada’s farmed wild boar industry has almost four months left to get ready for the same mandatory identification, record-keeping and movement reporting rules as the mainline hog industry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday put out a reminder to all pork producers that they and other “pig custodians,” such as breeders, auction markets and […] Read more