Swine fever alarm: first case in Lombardy
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Swine fever has arrived in Lombardy and if immediate action is not taken, farmers say, it will be a national catastrophe, since 50% of all Made in Italy pig farming is concentrated in the region. With the ascertained discovery, in these hours, of an infected wild boar carcass in Bagnaria (Pavia), the production area of Varzi Dop salami, the associations are asking for rapid intervention by the authorities and in particular by the extraordinary commissioner, Vincenzo Caputi: « The situation is very serious – says the president of Cia Lombardia, Paolo Maccazzola – this scourge needs to be stemmed before the circulation of swine-derived products is blocked. We cannot leave all the responsibility for containment in the hands of hunters and forest rangers, targeted and above all rapid culling is necessary”.
Pig farming is a key pillar of Italian animal husbandry: 11 billion in turnover and 70,000 employees in the supply chain depend on national farms, which includes 21 PDOs and 12 PGIs. “The wild boar emergency and the swine fever phenomenon have been underestimated for too long – said the national president of CIA, Cristiano Fini – we are now seven regions involved, it’s time to say enough to safeguard the sector and to protect the export of domestic pig production. We ask the government to support the commissioner structure with all the necessary tools and to finally listen to us, reforming the law 157/92 on wild boar hunting and slaughter plans».
Even Confagricoltura is worried: «We knew it would only be a matter of time – explains Alberto Cortesi, president of Confagricoltura Mantua – and that Pavese, bordering Piedmont and being extremely close to Liguria, regions where the Psa is already present, it would have been the area most at risk. The government’s initiative to also employ the army is welcome, but now it is a priority to recover what has not been done so far, to avoid greater damage”.
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