Regional chief vet: wild boar culling against ASF brings only “average” results

Speaking on Radio Szczecin, Dr Maciej Prost said the results of the fight against ASF “leave a lot to be desired”. Sanitary culling and culling under hunting plans are the two main tools used to regulate the wild boar population, but their effectiveness is “average”, he said. This year 336 outbreaks have been detected in the region, compared with just over 280 a year earlier.

He stressed that people, including transport, are also responsible for spreading the virus, citing ASF jumps of more than 100 km from eastern Poland to the Masovia region and more than 300 km from Masovia to the junction of the Lower Silesian, Greater Poland and Lubusz regions – “that didn’t happen by itself”.

Sanitary culling will nevertheless continue; in mid-September the West Pomeranian governor changed wild boar cull limits for 44 hunting clubs. Radio Szczecin notes that some experts consider culling an ineffective way to fight the disease.