The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food chain (FASFC) is calling on people travelling to Eastern Europe, Germany, Italy or Greece not to bring home meat and to be careful with their food scraps and waste. The request comes after African swine fever was recorded in these countries.
The FASFC is asking people returning from high-risk areas not to bring back pork meats such as salami or dry sausages to Belgium. Food leftovers should always be thrown away in a closed bin, especially if they contain meat. African swine fever is a contagious viral disease that is dangerous for pigs and wild boars. The disease is often fatal for animals. For humans, the virus is harmless. The FASFC points out that Belgium has been free of the disease for several years and is making every effort to remain so.
The situation in the rest of Europe is less favourable. For instance, there are numerous infections in Eastern Europe, Germany and Italy. In mid-June, a case of African swine fever was detected in a wild boar 180 kilometres from the Belgian border, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The spread occurred in all likelihood through human activity. In northern Italy, the virus is already present in an area half the size of Belgium.