The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Tuesday at 15:00 received five new reports of confirmed African swine fever in facilities where pigs are kept, bringing the number of outbreaks to 99 since the beginning of the year. New outbreaks were confirmed in the Osijek-Baranja and Virovitica-Podravina counties.
One new case was recorded in the settlement of Bokšić Lug in the municipality of Đurđevac, while four were recorded in the Virovitica-Podravina county: in Breštanovci in the municipality of Crnac, and in Kutova in the municipality of Zdenci and in the municipality of Đurđevac.
According to data from local crisis headquarters, around 3,758 pigs have been culled in the two counties to control the disease. Of the 99 confirmed outbreaks on farms, 50 were in Osijek-Baranja county and 49 in the Virovitica-Podravina county. The disease has so far been confirmed in 184 wild boar, most in the Osijek-Baranja county.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, David Plenković, met on the same day with representatives of the Croatian Hunting Association on measures against the spread of the disease among wild boar. As a key new measure, the establishment of emergency teams of the hunting association in the affected counties was agreed, as well as the active involvement of the Ministry of the Interior, whose officers will detect areas where hunting should be intensified using thermal cameras and drones.
The Minister rejected the claims that the measures were destroying domestic pig farming and benefiting imports. According to the register, in June there were 879,662 pigs in Croatia, which is 39,394 more than in June 2023, before the outbreak of the disease, while the number of pig farms increased from 21,389 to 38,229. The state has invested almost €50.8 million in the fight against the disease.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stated that it is continuing to implement the prescribed measures in cooperation with the State Inspectorate, the Croatian Veterinary Institute and local authorities, and is calling on all pig farmers to comply with biosecurity measures and to report any suspicion of the disease to an authorised veterinarian immediately.
