Swine fever likely reached Finland in early summer, agency says

African swine fever likely reached Finland around the turn of May and June, the Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto) estimates, according to Yle. The disease may have arrived even earlier in the spring, said Sirpa Kiviruusu, head of the authority’s animal health and medication unit.

Finland’s first case was confirmed in late July. There are now 49 confirmed cases. Dead wild boars have been found in Virolahti, Miehikkälä, Pyhtää and Lappeenranta in southeastern Finland. Most cases have been in wild boars found in Virolahti, where the first case was detected.

The latest confirmed cases were found in the Ylämaa district of Lappeenranta, which has recorded seven cases in total. The authority says wild boars have been moving northeast along routes that differ from their usual paths. The reason is unknown; one possibility is the border fence along the Finnish-Russian border, completed in late August.

Construction of an electric fence around the disease’s core zone is expected to start in November. The fence will extend about 50 kilometres and is intended to guide wild boars’ movements. The core zone includes parts of Virolahti and Miehikkälä, as well as southeastern Lappeenranta east of Vaalimaantie and extending to the Vilajoki water system.