The forests of southern Hesse will very likely soon be wild boar-free zones. In order to contain African swine fever (ASF), as many animals as possible must be “removed” from the forests, as it is called in technical jargon. If only a few specimens remained in the forest, they could at some point promote the epidemic again. The first dead wild boar infected with ASF was discovered on June 15, 2024 in a forest near Rüsselsheim near the former Opel racetrack. Seven months have now passed and the epidemic has reached an enormous scale. Those responsible in the district hope to have the epidemic under control to some extent. But no one knows how long the epidemic will last and how it will develop further. Hope rests primarily on a possible vaccine against ASF.289 wild boars or wild boar carcasses have so far tested positive for ASF in the Groß-Gerau district. 3,581 domestic pigs were culled, and several farmers are therefore fighting against financial ruin. Alarm bells rang among those responsible in the Groß-Gerau district administration that weekend in June 2024. “It was a beautiful Sunday and we didn’t think of anything bad,” says First District Councilor and responsible department head Adil Oyan (The Greens), describing the day that shook things up in the district and made the national headlines. Those involved knew what was happening For Katrin Stein and her team from the veterinary office, the weekend in question was over quickly. A crisis team was immediately formed, which not only included representatives of the authorities, as is usually the case. Farmers, hunters and the responsible foresters were brought to the table to discuss quick reactions together. Everyone had an idea of what ASF meant. After the epidemic broke out in East Germany a few years ago, “we knew that it would affect us too at some point,” Stein told the press at the time. That’s why this scenario, like other catastrophes, was practiced. Those involved knew what had to be done. “We are no longer running behind what is happening,” says Stein, describing the situation. In the next few weeks, the work will increase because the state is withdrawing from participation because disease control is the responsibility of the affected districts. The maintenance, monitoring and repair of 145 kilometers of fences are now the responsibility of the municipalities, as is the commissioning of drone overflights and the training of special sniffer dogs. In order to achieve all of this, the district, despite its financial misery, is planning to budget five million euros each by 2028 and hopes that at some point there will be subsidies from the federal, state and EU. “We want to be in a position like the virus was transferred is still unknown. Mosquitoes were examined and could have been carriers, but experts consider this to be unlikely. The only thing that is certain is that this type of swine fever comes from southeastern Europe. Therefore, there is a high probability that a vacationer or truck driver threw away a sandwich filled with infected meat that was eaten by a wild boar. But this has not been proven. The crisis team meets every two weeks and reassesses what is happening. “We want to be ahead of the situation,” says Friedrich Schmidt, head of security in the district. The Groß-Gerau district is the spearhead in combating the epidemic, other affected districts, now also in neighboring Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, are not yet as advanced in their reactions as Groß-Gerau. The disruption for the population will be remain in the coming months and years. Dogs must remain on a leash outdoors, forest paths are not allowed to be left, and mushroom hunting off the path is prohibited. Forestry office manager Klaus Velbecker must enforce compliance with the general orders. So far there have been no major conflicts, he says.More on the topicMarkus Stifter from the state hunting association assumes that hunting bans will last longer in certain parts of the forests. “ASF also means enormous animal suffering,” says the man who had to watch hundreds of domestic pigs being culled. As a representative of farmers, Wolfgang Dörr hopes for as much relief as possible for his profession when it comes to the general regulations. Pig farmers in particular found themselves in a situation through no fault of their own that threatened their economic existence. Those affected would have to pay up to 30,000 euros just to have their stables disinfected. They are not allowed to keep new animals for an indefinite period of time, with the result that there is no income from pig breeding. And now there was also the threat of bluetongue and foot and mouth disease. Dörr would like to see faster compensation payments and less bureaucracy for the affected farmers.
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