Abstract

Since 2014 the African Swine Fever (ASF), is advancing through wild boar to Spain from Eastern European countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, borders of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and northern Hungary). Officially, according with the European Commission this disease was eradicated in France (1974), Mainland Italy (1993), Belgium (1985)., Netherlands (1986), Spain (1994) and Portugal (1999). But the threaten has emerged again. From the point of view of Animal Health, an alert has been issued at European level prohibiting exports of this type of animals, whether live or dead, especially their by-products. Recently, at the end of February 2019, wild boars affected by this disease were found at frontiers of Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Although the disease is not transmissible to humans, we want to make an appeal here, because the transmission of the disease to any pig farm would cause a health alarm, having to empty the farm, with the enormous economic loss that this would entail for the farm. In this article we analyze what the African Swine Pest is, the role played by the overpopulation of wild boar in its distribution and the preventive measures to be adopted.