The emergency linked to the spread of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic which affects wild boars and risks being transmitted to pig farms in Granda was at the center of the meetings which took place on Monday 22 April in the Province of Cuneo with the commissioner extraordinary Vincenzo Caputo. In the morning the control room, established by the Province of Cuneo to counter the emergency, met and which includes, in addition to the president of the Province Luca Robaldo and the delegated provincial councilors, the technicians of the sector, representatives of the ASL CN1 and CN2, the health representatives of the Region, the PSA emergency commissioner for the Provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo Giorgio Sapino, the delegates of the trade union organizations and the production chain. The regional health councilor Luigi Icardi was present in connection.
The control room is an institution that is giving good results, so much so that it has now been taken as an example in several areas of northern Italy and from the next meeting the Province of Savona will also participate, as part of the collaboration between neighboring regions to combat the ’emergency.
With the latest amendments to the annexes to the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, which establishes special measures to control African swine fever, 40 municipalities in Cuneo are placed in restriction zones I and II. Despite the intense control activity on the wild boar species carried out by the Province and the health initiatives that have been activated by the Region and the local health authorities on pig farms, the epidemic – albeit slowly – is advancing and it is not excluded that the areas restrictions may be further expanded in the near future based on the discovery of the virus in the wild in the area.
The epidemic front towards the area of the province of Cuneo currently appears to be at a standstill, even in the Cebano area. The eradication plan for the Piedmont region has just been approved and contains indications for culling, identifying what will be the “pig districts” in the areas with the greatest concentration of farms, in which the tendency towards eradication must be total. The director of the Province Alessandro Risso specified the data of the wild boar depopulation activity in 2024: 803 animals killed in control activities and 944 in hunting activities, for a total of 1747 animals killed, 70% in the areas close to of the restriction zone. This activity also takes place through collection centers (currently 44 of which 2 managed by the ASL), including one recognized as CLS (game processing centre) which can accept game meat coming from the restriction zone. The health surveillance activity continues through monitoring of the territory divided into cells and that on biosafety in farms conducted so far for approximately 40% of the total.
Among the initiatives most appreciated by Commissioner Caputo is the hiring of Provincial staff in the fauna-environmental unit of the local police, increased to 28 guards. Caputo anticipated some contents of the upcoming Ordinance 2 of 2024 and anticipates some of its contents: the importance of bioregulators, to be used where the emergency arises on a continuous basis; the ban on foraging for wild boars on roadsides; the importance of pig breeding districts where, as in inhabited centres, the presence of wild boar will have to disappear. Barriers will be provided to close the gaps under the highways used by wild boars for their travel. The new ordinance will also aim to stem speculation on the price of pork from farms that have become part of a restriction zone. Among the new features are the inclusion of specialized Army personnel for “drainage” activities in critical areas and the collaboration with the personnel of the Provinces, on a massive scale, drawing from the national register of bioregulators, which currently already has 13,500 members. Knowing the disease also by ordinary citizens is important to allow outdoor activities, in restriction zones, which are important for the economic support of local realities.
The same themes were also taken up again in the afternoon during the meeting with the mayors, which was also attended by some parliamentarians elected in the province of Cuneo, regional councilors and all the guards of the environmental wildlife police of the province.
Tags: African swine fever emergency extraordinary commissioner Caputo Cuneo
