Although no precise figures are available, the wild boar vaccination ordered to stop the spread of African swine fever (ASF) is underway, according to the National Food Chain Safety Office, and more than HUF 4.6 billion has already been paid out to compensate hunters and domestic pig farmers, according to the National Chamber of Agriculture's statement on forest and game management.
Agriculture Minister István Nagy repeatedly stated at the end of last year and again in January this year that feral pigs should be controlled to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF). In November, he told Világgazdaság that he had increased the number of pigs in the wild by 30 per cent. wild boars quotas for the shooting of wild boar, and strongly urged the hunting industry to control the wild boar population. He later specified that the target was one pound per two square kilometres. wild boar.
The National Food Chain Safety Office does not yet have precise data on the status of the eradication, according to a reply sent by NÉBIH to questions from Világgazdaság. Accurate figures for the whole country will be available at the end of the hunting year, after the reports submitted by hunting license holders have been aggregated. After the extension of the medium-risk area in December, data on the harvesting of the population in this area by means of diagnostic shooting will also be available later. The authority has given the hunting companies the number of feral pigs to be submitted for diagnostic purposes, defined by sex and age. According to János Pechtol, President of the National Hungarian Hunting Protection Association, animals submitted for diagnostic purposes will be destroyed after testing, as will animals infected with ASF.
The NÉBIH also did not provide precise data on the current density of the feral pig population, but said that the density of feral pigs in Hungary varies widely, both in infected and African swine fever-free areas. The counties of Nógrád, Heves and Borsod had high densities before the outbreak and therefore the spread of the disease and the decline in the population in these areas is spectacular.
