African swine fever threatens Europe
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 07:30
in Health & Medicine
African swine fever, or ASF, is a viral disease that kills almost every pig it infects and is likened to Ebola. It gained a foothold in Georgia in 2007, when contaminated pig meat landed from a ship from South-East Africa and was fed to local pigs. From there, it spread to Russia, Belarus and spilled over the border of the European Union, showing up sporadically in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, this year. Now, a project funded by the EU is seeking to better understand the deadly pig virus and try to develop a vaccine for the disease. The project, called ASFORCE, brings 18 partners together to try give vets, pig farmers and policy makers scientific insights and practical tools to stop the disease spreading.
