Nearly 400 volunteers search for more dead and sick wild boars in the area of the outbreak.

On Wednesday, the Finnish Food Authority reported that it had detected 11 new cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars found dead in the municipality of Virolahti, near the southeastern border with Russia.

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The new cases add to the three previous cases detected in the same region on June 30. The positive results were confirmed by the Animal Health Research Center (CISA-INIA) in Valdeolmos, Spain, after analyzing samples sent by the Finnish food agency.

The discovery of the three first infected wild boars led Finland, one of the few European Union (EU) countries that remained free of ASF, to establish a high-risk area at the site where they were found and a 1,500-square-kilometer restriction zone around it.

Five of the 11 new cases were detected within the high-risk area and the others 1 kilometer farther north, so the restriction zone will be expanded in an effort to contain the spread of ASF.

Authorities have prohibited unauthorized people from entering the high-risk area, the epicenter of the outbreak. In the restriction zone, forestry work, mushroom and berry picking, hunting and other outdoor activities are prohibited.

Since Aug. 7, nearly 400 volunteers, most of them hunters from the region, have been searching for more dead and sick wild boars in the high-risk area to determine the extent of the outbreak.

Their work consists of removing the remains of dead wild boars and taking samples for subsequent analysis, following instructions from the authorities.

The food safety agency has inspected the pig farms closest to the outbreak area as a precautionary measure, with no indications so far of possible ASF infections. Finnish authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the wild boars may have arrived from Russia.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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