RISK ASSESSMENT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER FROM HUNGARY TO AUSTRIA VIA WILD BOAR

Abstract

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a viral disease of domestic swinecaused by the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV).The disease is characterised by haemorrhagic fever withhighmortality in affected domesticand feralpig populations (Galindo and Alonso, 2017). A mortality of up to 100% can be observed in peracute and acute forms of the disease, whereas the chronic and subclinical form shows decreased mortality,while being much rarer(Sánchez-Vizcaíno et al., 2015).ASF is a highly contagious disease, mainly transmitted via direct contact, contaminated feed as well as ticks of the Ornithodoros genus acting as a virus reservoir(Beltrán-Alcrudo et al., 2009; EFSA, 2015).The virus is spread to different populations within and across borders by transportation of infected animals, animal products or fodder(Cwynar et al., 2019).