In April 2025, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its annual analysis of African swine fever (ASF) in the European Union. This report was produced based on data from the Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) and reports from EU member states and neighbouring countries. It provides an overview of the spread of ASF in 2024 among farmed pigs and wild boars, and gives an insight into the effectiveness of prevention and control measures.
What immediately stands out in the report is the significant drop in the number of ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs in the EU: from almost 2,000 in 2023 to 333 in 2024, a decrease of 83%. Romania and Croatia, countries that were previously heavily affected, in particular, saw a sharp drop in the number of reports. The EFSA report highlights the importance of good biosecurity measures and surveillance, especially on farms with fewer than 100 pigs, where the majority of outbreaks occur. Infection at large-scale farms have potentially much greater consequences: economic damage, slaughterhouses shutting down, exports blocked. Therefore, biodiversity measures are also much stricter there.
Despite this positive trend, the presence of ASF among wild boar remains stable. Since 2022, between 7,000 and 8,000 infections have been detected annually in the EU, with Poland, Italy and Germany the largest reporters. Most of the infections involved dead wild boars, detected through targeted monitoring. These data underline the importance of continuous surveillance in nature reserves and around pig farms.
For the Netherlands, 2024 was a year in which again no outbreaks were reported, despite infections in our eastern neighbours. In Germany, in June 2024, the virus was found in wild boar in the southwest, a previously free area. Thanks to the quick response of the German authorities and the cross-border vigilance of Dutch chain parties, spread towards the Netherlands was prevented.
The Dutch meat chain responded adequately and in unison to this situation. On the initiative of the NVWA and in close consultation with sector organisations, additional hygiene measures were introduced for transports from high-risk areas. For instance, a second cleaning and disinfection of livestock trucks became mandatory, and a certificate requirement applied to big game from Germany.
The EFSA report confirms that summer months require extra attention, as more than half of the outbreaks in 2024 occurred between July and September. Dutch companies are now well adjusted to this, with temporary scaling up of monitoring and extra vigilance during transport and slaughter in that period.
Source: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9436
