Pig producers have told the government to implement import checks or risk the introduction of African swine fever to the UK as the disease moves closer to France.
The lethal pig disease has been found in a herd of outdoor pigs in Germany, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, close to the French border.
The fresh outbreak is over 500km from the cases in wild boar, which were recorded in the west of the country.
It is likely this significant jump was due to human movement rather than transmission via wildlife.
The whole herd has been culled and investigations are ongoing as to whether there has been any spread of ASF from the infected pigs.
The disease has not only been spreading in Germany, which is one of the world’s biggest pork exporters, but it has also been found in Belgium, Romania, and Poland.
Asian countries – including major pig producing countries such as China and Vietnam – have been hit particularly hard by it, and cases have also been reported in Sub Saharan Africa.
The disease has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of pigs and wild boar in Europe, and millions in Asia.
Responding, the National Pig Association (NPA) warned that the new German outbreak was "another stark reminder that the disease can move easily and quickly".
The trade body said protecting the UK herd from a notifiable disease outbreak should now be a priority for the government.
The risk posed to UK pigs is currently classed as medium, the highest it can be without a disease outbreak.
NPA senior policy adviser, Rebecca Veale said: “This case of ASF in Germany and the recent move in Italy to Rome show how the disease has no consideration for borders or distance.
“This presents a very real risk UK to producers without import checks being introduced in July, something we highlighted when we wrote to the prime minister this week.”
Checks on EU imports have now been delayed four times. The government had initially planned to enforce them in January 2021 at the end of the Brexit transition period.
This subsequent failure to fully implement Border Control checks has meant EU food and agricultural imports are not subject to the rigorous checks placed on UK exports.
Farming industry groups say the checks are crucial to the UK's biosecurity, animal health and food safety, and without them they leave farmers exposed.
In particular, African swine fever can survive for very long periods of time in meat and meat products.
The NPA warned that the disease risk from ASF to the UK pig industry was 'exposed to without such checks at every opportunity'.
