African Swine Fever Kills 36,101 Pigs Since January
Serbia's Forestry Administration released its first tally: the disease is in seven districts, 13 municipalities and 62 towns, and fewer than 1,500 wild boar remain in Vojvodinasume's hunting grounds.
Since the start of 2026, 36,101 domestic pigs have died or been culled from African swine fever in Serbia, according to the Forestry Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. The disease has so far been confirmed in seven districts, 13 municipalities and 62 towns and villages.
The tally was announced after officials from the Forestry Administration and the state company Vojvodinasume toured the Kupinovo Forest Management Unit and the Posavina hunting grounds around Obedska Bara to check how the prescribed measures are being enforced on the ground. Acting director of the Forestry Administration Vladimir Nikolic said the number of new cases is falling.
“It’s encouraging that in recent days we’ve been recording fewer and fewer new infection cases, and we expect that trend to continue. Still, there is no room for complacency.”
Nikolic made the comment during a visit to an infected farm, adding that bringing the disease under control requires state authorities, forest and hunting ground users, game wardens, hunters and citizens to act together.
How many wild boar are left in Vojvodinasume’s hunting grounds?
The wild boar population across the 17 hunting grounds managed by Vojvodinasume has dropped from more than 4,500 to fewer than 1,500, a fall of roughly two thirds. Branislav Stankov, the company’s executive director for hunting, points to two causes: the disease itself and the controlled culling under way since 2021, when African swine fever was first recorded in the company’s hunting grounds.
The virus has been confirmed in 16 of the 17 hunting grounds. The only one still unaffected is the Subotica Forest hunting ground, at the northern tip of Vojvodina.
“Once temperatures drop and wild boar return to their forest habitats, monitoring will let us determine the optimal population for each hunting ground. We will continue with strictly controlled reduction culling so that Srem stops being an area where the virus persists and spreads further.”
That pushes the next step into the fall, once temperatures fall and the boar population moves back into the woods.
Srem, Macva and Kolubara under heightened monitoring
The Forestry Administration names three districts and the capital as the highest risk areas.
“We are monitoring the situation especially closely in the Srem, Macva and Kolubara districts, as well as in the Belgrade area, where the risk is most pronounced.”
Hunting has been suspended for 60 days in one hunting ground in Srem, and inside its fenced section, where wild boar are farmed, movement is barred to everyone except the game wardens responsible for control and record keeping.
“The most complex situation is in the Srem area. Hunting has been suspended for 60 days in the Kupinik hunting ground, while the strictest measures have been introduced in its fenced section.”
Stankov added that buyers of timber assortments and the company’s other business partners have also been informed of the measures, since restricted access to forest areas affects regular operations as well.
What is being done on farms and in hunting grounds
The Forestry Administration issued its instructions on the measures on July 19, effective from July 20. In practice this means:
- disinfection barriers at the entrances to farms and hunting grounds
- disinfection of vehicles and people entering the infected area
- logging every person’s entry and exit
- barriers on sections of forest roads in Srem district and information boards at forest access points
Nikolic urged citizens to respect the restrictions and to temporarily avoid entering forests in areas where the measures are in force. Stankov warned that anyone who enters a closed-off area without authorization and without being logged risks a penalty, since warden services are on the ground at all times.
African swine fever is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs marked by high fever, loss of appetite, difficulty moving and reddened skin, and it most often ends in death. It poses no danger to humans and does not spread to other animal species, but it is costly for livestock farming, since every outbreak is contained by culling the entire herd. Farmers are therefore required to disinfect footwear, clothing and equipment, limit entry into buildings where pigs are kept, and report every death to the veterinary service.
