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Denmark raises fence on German border to prevent swine fever
COPENHAGEN, Jan 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – In a bid to protect its pork industry,
Denmark began building a fence Monday along its border with Germany to keep
out wild boar infected with the African swine fever virus.
The 70-kilometre (45-mile) fence is a precautionary measure and expected
to be completed in the autumn.
“The fence and our increased efforts to hunt wild boar will break the
chain of infection so there is less risk of African swine fever spreading to
Denmark,” Environment and Food Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said.
There are “11 billion good reasons to do everything we can to prevent
African swine fever reaching Denmark,” he added.
The virus is not harmful to humans but causes haemorrhagic fever in pigs
and wild boar that almost always ends in death within days.
It was first spotted in Poland in 2014 when infected wild boar entered
from neighbouring Belarus.
Belgium reported its first case in September near the borders with
Luxembourg and France, prompting it to carry out a preventive pig slaughter
and set up an exclusion zone.
No cases have been reported in Germany.
Denmark is one of Europe’s main pork exporters, raising 28 million pigs
per year across some 5,000 farms.
Pork accounts for five percent of Danish exports, or 30 billion kroner
(four billion euros, $4.5 billion) in 2016.
In France, the army was in early January called in to help hunters cull
thousands of wild boar near the Belgian border. A fence is also in the
process of being raised.
BSS/AFP/RY/1946 hrs