Brussels, 29/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 28 March the European Commission adopted emergency protection measures against swine fever in Germany, after the fourth confirmed case of the disease in domestic pigs in North-Rhine Westphalia. Germany will suspend the movement of all pigs within and from the German federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia for ten days. The Decision will be reviewed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health next week. According to the opinions of veterinary experts from EU Member States, the Commission could extend this decision, which was published in Official Journal L91 on 29 March 2006. Under the Decision adopted by the Commission today, no pigs can be transported to or from holdings in North-Rhine Westphalia, nor can they be dispatched to other parts of Germany, other Member States or third countries. Pigs for slaughter from outside North-Rhine Westphalia may be allowed to be transported through the area. Bio-security measures, such as the disinfection of vehicles used to transport pigs, must also be applied. The Commission explains that this is the fourth confirmed case of the disease in domestic pigs in North-Rhine Westphalia, despite the control measures put in place by the German authorities when the other 3 cases were detected in this area on the 3rd and the 5th of March. Germany has installed security perimeters and thousands of pigs have been slaughtered. It calculated that on 1 November 2005 around 26.9 million pigs had been slaughtered, almost a quarter of which came from North-Rhine Westphalia.
Classical swine fever is an infectious disease affecting pigs and wild boar, transmitted through excrement and saliva. It cannot be transmitted to human beings or other animal species. The last case was confirmed in Germany nearly two years ago. The last major outbreak was in 1997-98 and led to the slaughter of 1.2 million pigs in Germany. It also affected the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy. Surveillance and preventive vaccination measures of boar in Germany, Luxembourg, France and Slovakia are still being applied where some cases have been detected in recent years.