A new case of African swine fever (ASF) has been recorded in Germany’s federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The virus was confirmed in a wild boar in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district near the locality of Netphen-Grissenbach.
Since the first ASF detection in June 2025 in the Olpe district, more than 45,000 wild boars have been tested under a regional monitoring program. Around 600 animals have tested positive, all of them previously in the districts of Olpe, Siegen-Wittgenstein, and Hochsauerland.
The new case was confirmed by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health. Notably, the infected carcass was found outside Restricted Zone II — within Zone I — approximately 10 km from the core outbreak area and about 5 km from the border with the federal state of Hesse.
As of early May, no additional ASF cases have been detected near the site. However, authorities are stepping up response measures: search teams, together with emergency services, are intensifying field inspections using specially trained dogs and drones to detect further cases.
As part of control measures, intensive hunting has also been carried out in the Netphen area in recent weeks. At the same time, all other wild boars hunted or found dead in the area have tested negative for ASF.
Overall, the emergence of a new case outside the core zone indicates a potential expansion of the virus’s geographic spread and highlights the need for continued strengthening of surveillance and biosecurity measures to prevent further transmission.
PigUA.info, based on materials from pig333.com