Köpping: African swine fever pushed back

For the first time since the outbreak of African swine fever in Saxony, the endangered areas set up for containment have been significantly reduced in size. The European Commission approved Saxony's preliminary application last week, the Saxon Ministry of Health announced in Dresden on Monday. This means that large parts of the district of Meißen can be transferred from a restricted zone II (endangered area) to a restricted zone I (buffer zone).

"The fact that we can significantly reduce the restriction zones after more than three years is the result of intensive and joint efforts to combat the animal disease," said Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD). A first milestone has been reached in the fight against the disease. The task now is to further reduce the epidemic in the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz. "The animal disease has been pushed back to a smaller area for the first time, but it has not yet been eradicated," emphasized Köpping.

In the areas that are no longer part of restricted zone II, the stricter requirements for agriculture and forestry, hunters and the general public no longer apply. The "milder" requirements for restricted zone I now apply there. However, the game defense fences are to remain in place for the time being. This also applies to the protection corridors in the west, north and east of the restriction zones. If the positive trend continues, further applications to reduce the size of restriction zones could be submitted as early as June in a second step.

African swine fever is a viral infection that only affects pigs. It is almost always fatal and incurable. Surviving animals do not develop immunity to the virus and can become infected again. To date, there is no way to protect pigs through vaccination. The disease can be transmitted directly from animal to animal or indirectly via contaminated objects and feed.