African Swine Fever (ASF) – Assessing the risks of fresh meat and meat products from pigs kept in ASF restricted zones

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a disease caused by a virus that affects domestic pigs and wild boars. Infections often lead to acute and severe illness in animals with a high mortality rate. Over the past few years, ASF has spread throughout Europe and other parts of the world. 

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLIshort forFriedrich Loeffler Institute) assessed the risks posed by fresh meat and meat products stemming from pigs kept in ASF restricted zones and intended for human consumption. The risk of ASF virus carryover was also assessed. 

The ASF virus is not transmissible to humans. Therefore, contact with pigs stemming from ASF restricted zones as well as consumption of meat or meat products derived from these animals are not expected to cause adverse health effects. This is also true in cases where the ASF virus is contained within the products.

If all processes follow legal requirements (slaughter of healthy animals from monitored keeping conditions, no feeding of leftover food to pigs), the risk of ASF virus carryover via fresh meat or meat products from restricted zones is negligible to very low.