Deadly hog fever threatens to disrupt Germany's pork exports

Berlin

A DEADLY pig disease has just entered Germany for the first time, threatening to hammer exports from Europe's biggest hog-producing nation.

A confirmed case of African swine fever has been identified in the eastern state of Brandenburg, Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner said on Thursday at a news conference in Berlin. The virus, which kills most infected pigs within 10 days but is not harmful to humans, was detected in the corpse of a wild boar found near the Polish border.

"The suspected case unfortunately has been confirmed," Ms Kloeckner said. Tests were conducted on the boar at Germany's animal health institute and sensitive areas will be cordoned off, she added.

The European Union's top pork producer and a key supplier to China, the largest consumer, has been training dogs to sniff out dead wild boar, stockpiling electric fences along the eastern border and urging drivers not to toss ham-sandwich scraps out the window to prevent the disease from entering the country.

The swine fever outbreak deals a further blow to the nation as it struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. A nationwide lockdown in the spring plunged the economy into its worst recession since World War II and activity isn't expected to return to pre-crisis levels until the end of next year at the earliest.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Germany's largest pork plant was shuttered for a month this summer after more than 1,000 workers tested positive for the coronavirus, and additional abattoirs also faced temporary closures from outbreaks. That's kept output below normal levels and meat producers throughout Europe and the Americas saw similar problems as slaughterhouses became hotspots for the virus.

As soon as a case of swine fever is confirmed, even if it's a wild pig, German pork exports to countries outside the EU are no longer allowed, while sales to the bloc are still possible under certain conditions, according to the DBV farm lobby.

That could benefit other European shippers, including Spain or Denmark, as well as sales from the United States, Canada or Brazil.

That would come at a time when Chinese purchases have been surging as the nation attempts to rebuild its own herds after African swine fever outbreaks there decimated production. The US Department of Agriculture expects global pork shipments to climb by nearly a fifth compared with 2019.

If the case disrupts exports, that could help push up prices in the US, which has been exporting record amounts of pork to China after African swine fever decimated the Asian nation's herd last year. BLOOMBERG