Wild boars have appeared in Rome and are currently growing in population. They are a “Force of Chaos”, disrupting traffic, and swarming the streets of the Vatican.
In the past few months, government authorities and scientists became increasingly worried that the increase in the Boar population could cause a disease called African Swine Fever.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly swine disease that can affect both farm-raised and feral (wild) pigs. ASF doesn’t infect people, but it is readily passed from one pig to another by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected pig. Rome, afraid of exporting the virus, reached out to several countries, like China, to temporarily ban Italian pork.
To enhance the chances of wiping out ASF, a government task force is sent out to reduce the boar population by 50%, which requires several million boars to be slaughtered. A wild boar corpse infected with African swine fever was found in northwestern Italy, and 4-5 more carcasses were confirmed positive near western Italy.
“I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population,” Angelo Ferrari says, an expert assigned to talk about the boar crisis. “The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Outbreaks can be devastating for livestock producers, who either lose their animals to the disease itself or must slaughter their herds to stop the spread. NPR reports, “In China, the world’s largest pork-producing nation, farmers killed hundreds of millions of pigs due to the viral disease in 2018 and 2019.”
It is yet to be seen what the government will do, but for now, boars are able to roam freely in the streets of Italy.
In the past few months, government authorities and scientists became increasingly worried that the increase in the Boar population could cause a disease called African Swine Fever.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly swine disease that can affect both farm-raised and feral (wild) pigs. ASF doesn’t infect people, but it is readily passed from one pig to another by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected pig. Rome, afraid of exporting the virus, reached out to several countries, like China, to temporarily ban Italian pork.
To enhance the chances of wiping out ASF, a government task force is sent out to reduce the boar population by 50%, which requires several million boars to be slaughtered. A wild boar corpse infected with African swine fever was found in northwestern Italy, and 4-5 more carcasses were confirmed positive near western Italy.
“I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population,” Angelo Ferrari says, an expert assigned to talk about the boar crisis. “The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Outbreaks can be devastating for livestock producers, who either lose their animals to the disease itself or must slaughter their herds to stop the spread. NPR reports, “In China, the world’s largest pork-producing nation, farmers killed hundreds of millions of pigs due to the viral disease in 2018 and 2019.”
It is yet to be seen what the government will do, but for now, boars are able to roam freely in the streets of Italy.
