Following the recent outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in Saxony, the district of Görlitz has reintroduced restricted zones. They were all lifted in late fall after five years of ASF. However, on March 31, the ASF virus was detected again in an animal found dead in the Königshain mountains. The protective measures are therefore being resumed.
Restricted zones established
A restricted zone II (endangered area) was established with a radius of around ten kilometers around the location where the virus was found, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced. The area includes areas or parts of areas in the municipalities of Hohendubrau, Horka, Kodersdorf, Königshain, Markersdorf, Neißeaue, Quitzdorf am See, Schöpstal, Löbau, Niesky, Reichenbach, Vierkirchen and Waldhufen. A buffer zone (restricted zone I) adjoins the existing protection corridor along the border with Poland to the west and surrounds restricted zone II.
"By establishing the restricted zones, we are following the requirements of the EU Commission. Intensive trapping and targeted hunting of wild boar is now being carried out in the area in an attempt to limit the spread of the disease and prevent it from spreading further," explained Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD). She appealed to all farmers with pig fattening and pig breeding farms in this area to strictly adhere to protective measures so that the virus does not continue to infect domestic pigs.
