Speaking after the disease was found in two wild boars in Belgium last Friday, French pig farm leader, Paul Auffray, called for top level collaboration between French and Belgium authorities to keep the disease at bay.
“Early last week ASF was still in Poland and then, two days later, it was just across from France,” he said, adding that such a disease leap had probably been caused by travelling workers rather than transmitted by wild boars.
“At present, it’s very important to us that it is still in Belgium and not France. That’s a big distinction, given that 30% of our production is currently being exported.”
M. Auffray, who is president of Fédération Nationale Porcine, the body which represents French pig farmers, warned that any advance by ASF into France would have serious economic consequences, potentially closing the country’s pigmeat export markets for two or even three years.
