German Farm to Cull 4,000 Pigs After Swine Fever Detected

Nov 18, 2021

A pig farm in northern Germany began culling all of its 4,000 animals Wednesday after a case of African swine fever was confirmed there.

The outbreak near Guestrow, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) northwest of Berlin, is the first at a large pig farm in Germany. Cases in wild boars were first reported in Germany last year, followed by outbreaks in smallholdings.

African swine fever is usually deadly for pigs but doesn't affect humans. It has spread in several European countries, leading to large-scale culls of wild boars and farmed pigs.

German farmers had been dreading the arrival of swine fever because of the impact it will have on the pork industry, particularly lucrative exports to Asia.

Denmark, another major pork exporter, recently stepped up measures to prevent African swine fever entering the country from neighboring Germany.

Officials said it was still unclear how the disease entered the farm near Guestrow, where it was detected this week.

Click here to see more...

Video: Heat Stress in Pigs: What to Prepare for Before Next Summer - Dr. Joshua Selsby

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Joshua Selsby from Iowa State University explains how heat stress affects swine biology and why now is the ideal time to prepare for next summer’s challenges. He breaks down its effects on muscle function, immune responses, and long-term metabolic outcomes. Learn how early planning can protect herd performance when temperatures rise again. Listen now on all major platforms! "Heat stress leads to a cascade of biological damage, beginning with metabolic disruption and expanding across multiple organ systems." Meet the guest: Dr. Joshua Selsby is a Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. With over 15 years of research on skeletal muscle physiology and heat stress, he focuses on understanding how thermal stress disrupts swine metabolism, immune function, and muscle integrity.