| Autor: |
Lamberga K; Food and Veterinary Service, LV 1050 Riga, Latvia.; Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment 'BIOR', LV 1076 Riga, Latvia.; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, LV 3001 Jelgava, Latvia., Viltrop A; Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51006 Tartu, Estonia., Nurmoja I; National Centre for Laboratory Research and Risk Assessment, 51006 Tartu, Estonia., Masiulis M; Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT 47181 Kaunas, Lithuania.; State Food and Veterinary Service, LT 07170 Vilnius, Lithuania., Bušauskas P; State Food and Veterinary Service, LT 07170 Vilnius, Lithuania., Oļševskis E; Food and Veterinary Service, LV 1050 Riga, Latvia.; Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT 47181 Kaunas, Lithuania., Seržants M; Food and Veterinary Service, LV 1050 Riga, Latvia., Laddomada A; Coordinator of the Better Training for Safer Food Courses on the EU Animal Health Law, 07021 Sardinia, Italy., Ardelean F; County Sanitary Veterinary Health and Food Safety Directorate, 4400067 Satu Mare, Romania., Depner K; Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, 17493 Greifswald-Riems, Germany. |
| Abstrakt: |
In the event of an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in pig farms, the European Union (EU) legislation requires the establishment of a restricted zone, consisting of a protection zone with a radius of at least 3 km and a surveillance zone with a radius of at least 10 km around the outbreak. The main purpose of the restricted zone is to stop the spread of the disease by detecting further outbreaks. We evaluated the effectiveness and necessity of the restricted zone in the Baltic States by looking at how many secondary outbreaks were detected inside and outside the protection and surveillance zones and by what means. Secondary outbreaks are outbreaks with an epidemiological link to a primary outbreak while a primary outbreak is an outbreak that is not epidemiologically linked to any previous outbreak. From 2014 to 2023, a total of 272 outbreaks in domestic pigs were confirmed, where 263 (96.7%) were primary outbreaks and 9 (3.3%) were secondary outbreaks. Eight of the secondary outbreaks were detected by epidemiological enquiry and one by passive surveillance. Epidemiological enquiries are legally required investigations on an outbreak farm to find out when and how the virus entered the farm and to obtain information on contact farms where the ASF virus may have been spread. Of the eight secondary outbreaks detected by epidemiological investigations, six were within the protection zone, one was within the surveillance zone and one outside the restricted zone. Epidemiological investigations were therefore the most effective means of detecting secondary outbreaks, whether inside or outside the restricted zones, while active surveillance was not effective. Active surveillance are legally prescribed activities carried out by the competent authorities in the restricted zones. Furthermore, as ASF is no longer a rare and exotic disease in the EU, it could be listed as a "Category B" disease, which in turn would allow for more flexibility and "tailor-made" control measures, e.g., regarding the size of the restricted zone. |
