African swine fever spreads across Serbia: seven districts
The disease has been recorded in seven districts and 52 settlements, with a state of emergency declared in Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Sabac and Obrenovac. The army and police have joined the response.
- African swine fever is active in 7 districts, 52 settlements and 12 municipalities as of July 18.
- A state of emergency has been declared in 4 municipalities: Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Sabac and Obrenovac.
- The largest cluster of outbreaks sits where the Srem and Macva districts meet the territory of Belgrade.
- The army and police have joined the response, and about 28,000 animals have been culled so far.
African swine fever, a viral disease lethal to domestic pigs and wild boar, had spread by July 18 to seven districts in Serbia, 52 settlements and 12 municipalities. A state of emergency has been declared in four municipalities, Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Sabac and Obrenovac, and alongside the veterinary service the army and police are now deployed on the ground. Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic said the situation in the field is serious and that the figures are not good.
The heaviest concentration of outbreaks has been recorded where the Srem and Macva districts meet the territory of Belgrade, an area where dense backyard pig populations overlap with wild boar habitats. According to the authorities, around 28,000 animals have been removed through deaths and culling measures so far, an indication of how quickly the clusters are growing compared with previous years.
Unlike some other livestock diseases, African swine fever does not transmit to humans and poses no risk to consumers. What makes it so hard to contain is the virus’s remarkable resilience: it survives for weeks in meat, processed products and on contaminated equipment, and no commercial vaccine yet exists. Control therefore rests on classic measures, biosecurity, movement restrictions and the removal of infected and contact animals.
Why is the disease concentrated in Srem and Macva?
The answer lies in a mix of epidemiological and structural factors. The Srem and Macva districts have some of the highest numbers of small backyard holdings, where biosecurity is difficult to enforce and contact between domestic pigs and wild boar is common. The virus spreads easily through food scraps, human movement, vehicles and equipment, so a single unreported outbreak can trigger a chain of new ones.
Glamocic also pointed to a systemic failure of the relevant services in early detection and reporting. In animal disease epidemiology, speed of response is decisive: every day of delay between the first symptoms and a confirmed diagnosis widens the circle of potentially infected holdings. Once outbreaks multiply, as they now have where two districts meet Belgrade’s territory, containment shifts from a routine veterinary procedure to an operation that requires the army and police.
What the emergency measures involve
Declaring a state of emergency in Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Sabac and Obrenovac gives local crisis units the authority to coordinate resources faster. In practice that means setting up disinfection barriers on approaches to outbreak zones, controlling the movement of people and vehicles, registering and monitoring holdings, and safely disposing of dead and culled animals. The army and police assist with securing the terrain and logistics, while the specialist work stays with veterinary inspectors.
For breeders, especially those with only a few animals, these are harsh measures because they often mean losing an entire backyard herd. That is why the profession insists on consistent reporting of suspicious deaths and respecting movement bans, since informal trade in pigs and meat is the most common route of spread. The coming weeks will show whether the tightened measures halt the chain or whether the number of outbreaks keeps rising.
Do you think small backyard farms can meet the biosecurity standards an outbreak like this demands?
