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. 2020 Jan 30;7(1):15.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci7010015.

The African Swine Fever Epidemic in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Lithuania (2014-2018)

Petras Mačiulskis  1   2 , Marius Masiulis  1   3 , Gediminas Pridotkas  2 , Jūratė Buitkuvienė  2 , Vaclovas Jurgelevičius  2   4 , Ingrida Jacevičienė  2 , Rūta Zagrabskaitė  2 , Laura Zani  5 , Simona Pilevičienė  2   4
Affiliations

The African Swine Fever Epidemic in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Lithuania (2014-2018)

Petras Mačiulskis et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

In January 2014 the first case of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar of the Baltic States was reported from Lithuania. It has been the first occurrence of the disease in Eastern EU member states. Since then, the disease spread further affecting not only the Baltic States and Poland but also south-eastern Europe, the Czech Republic and Belgium. The spreading pattern of ASF with its long-distance spread of several hundreds of kilometers on the one hand and the endemic situation in wild boar on the other is far from being understood. By analyzing data of ASF cases in wild boar along with implemented control measures in Lithuania from 2014-2018 this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the disease. In brief, despite huge efforts to eradicate ASF, the disease is now endemic in the Lithuanian wild boar population. About 86% of Lithuanian's territory is affected and over 3225 ASF cases in wild boar have been notified since 2014. The ASF epidemic led to a considerable decline in wild boar hunting bags. Intensified hunting might have reduced the wild boar population but this effect cannot be differentiated from the population decline caused by the disease itself. However, for ASF detection sampling of wild boar found dead supported by financial incentives turned out to be one of the most effective tools.

Keywords: African swine fever; prevalence; spread; wild boar.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hunting bag data of wild boar hunted in Lithuania (each hunting season is from April 15 to April 14 of the following year).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Samples of hunted wild boar (left) and wild boar found dead (right). * proportion of PCR positive samples [%].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sex distribution [%] of ASF positive wild boar hunted (grey bars, left side) and found dead (blue bars, right side) during 2014–2018 (cases of all years have been accumulated).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Proportion of ASF positive wild boar (hunted and found dead) by age class (2014–2018).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Proportion of PCR positive samples in found dead wild boar sorted by seasons (winter = December to February; spring = March to May; summer = June to August; autumn = September to November).
Figure 6
Figure 6
ASF spread in Lithuania (2014–2018). Affected municipalities and elderships are marked in orange. Positive cases in wild boar are indicated as blue dots. As soon as one case occurred within a year, the respective municipality was regarded as affected.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Timeline of disease control measures implemented in Lithuania (2014–2018).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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