HAMBURG – Animal health officials in Germany confirmed on July 2, the presence of African swine fever (ASF) at domestic farms in the states of Lower Saxony, one of the country’s biggest pig production regions, and in Brandenburg.

The outbreak in Lower Saxony was that state’s first, triggering the culling of approximately 280 sows and 1,500 piglets from a farm in the Emsland district. The disease in Brandenburg was not that state’s first outbreak since incidents of outbreaks of ASF in Germany were first discovered in 2020. The Brandenburg Ministry of Consumer Protection confirmed the farm in Brandenburg housed approximately 1,300 animals.

Germany’s National Reference Laboratory, The Friedrich Loeffler Institute, said local animal health authorities established restrictions on the movement of animals in the regions and set up surveillance zones in the areas affected. Officials reiterated that the disease poses no health threats to humans but is fatal in pigs and can be easily spread.