Germany’s (Continued) Pork Problem

Jul 20, 2021

Stop us if you’ve heard this before.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is stirring up panic in the pork world.

Some viruses just won’t take a hint.

How it started: Germany has been doing everything it can to keep infections out of its hog herd. They went as far as building fences along their border in an attempt to keep infected wild boars in Poland. But last September, the game changed when the first cases of ASF were confirmed in wild animals.

Amidst its own recovery from the devastating impact of the virus, China took the news of wild German boars with ASF hard. They, among other Asian nations, immediately banned imports of German pork.

How it’s going: Germany is the newest addition to the list of countries that have now found ASF in farm-raised pigs. Two farms were confirmed to have the virus last Friday: one an organic farm of about 200 pigs, the second a small farm with only two pigs.

Most in the German pork industry do not see the news as all that concerning. They point to the fact that they have already been limited on export options, thanks to the ban on exports to Asian nations. And the EU is expected to maintain their regionalization approach to restricting trade within its borders.