The Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy to Fanpage.it: “The possible spread to neighboring areas is not excluded, with a consequent expansion of the areas subject to restriction”
There is an African swine fever emergency in Campania. Since the beginning of the year, 39 wild boars have been found infected with the ASF virus, 29 of which in the last 20 days alone. The situation is being monitored by theExperimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy who is conducting the laboratory analyses. The cases, as anticipated by Fanpage.it, are concentrated in Salerno and in particular in Cilento, an area particularly frequented by tourists especially in the summer period. But at the moment, according to the Zooprophylactic Institute, “the possible spread to neighboring areas cannot be ruled out, with the consequent expansion of the areas subject to restriction”.
Swine fever is not dangerous for humansbut the latter can become a tool for contagion. The virus can be transmitted by contact with clothes and shoes. ASF is highly lethal and can cause serious damage to livestock farms.
The data communicated to the ministry and the Campania Region
At the moment, however, the reported cases concern only wild boars. The data from the Zooprophylactic Institute are communicated to the Campania Region and the competent Ministry in real time, through the system Degreethe portal of the Ministry of Veterinary Information System.
African swine fever in Campania: new cases in the Salerno area: wild boars affected
The doctor Ester De Carlo, Health Director of the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italyexplains to Fanpage.it:
“The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno remains at the forefront of managing the emergency through laboratory activities guaranteed 7 days a week and the continuous support of the Epidemiological Observatory to the territorial Veterinary Services, the Campania Region and the Ministry of Health. A well-established collaboration that allows us to monitor what is happening in the territory on a daily basis, allowing the Competent Authorities to intervene quickly”.
In Campania 29 cases in 20 days
African swine fever, in short, does not stop. Since the beginning of the plague emergency in the Campania Region, which began in May 2023, 65 positive wild boars have been found in the restriction zone II (area of active viral circulation) in the Salerno area, of which 39 in the last year alone. Overall, the total cases of PSA positivity in Campania are 1,777.
In the last half of 2023, a slowdown in the detection of the virus was observed, which then resumed from the beginning of 2024 with the identification of sporadic cases. But it is in the last 20 days that we are witnessing the peak of positivity among wild boars sampled during surveillance activities carried out through active research and selecontrollo, with an additional 29 positive animals. Due to the intrinsic characteristics of the virus as well as the aptitudes of the wild boar, a species that usually travels long distances.
