D.A. Lunina

African Swine fever (ASF) remains a serious economic threat to pig production around the world, affecting only animals of the Suidae family. The lack of effective treatment and vaccines makes the control of the disease particularly difficult and expensive. Only implementation of strict quarantine measures and a properly chosen eradication strategy remain the only methods to control the disease. ASF also circulates in the wildlife for a long time, persisting in the wild boar carcasses and spreading with infected animals to the new territories. Under natural conditions, the virus spreads slowly with the wild boars, but the intervention of hunters and the extraction of potentially infected meat can significantly accelerate the process. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of dead wild boars killed by ASF and the migration of susceptible wild animals. They are considered as the main source and factor in the maintenance of the ASF virus in the wild. In connection with this problem, the question of the role of hunting in the spread of ASF remains relevant. In order to reveal this issue, the article discusses the behavior of wild susceptible animals, hunting features worldwide, and the impact of hunting on the social behavior of wild boars, the role of hunting and hunters both in the containment and in the spread of ASF. The main attention of the article is focused on the importance of the cohesive work of each stakeholder group in the elimination of ASF. The choice of a strategy to control ASF in the wild and the long term support of joint efforts to implement it is the key to restoring the well-being of the area and preventing the introduction of the virus into farms and households.

The article provides information on the ASF epizootic, and control measures taken. The most likely reason for the introduction of the disease, considering the distance from the nearest foci of the disease, is the anthropogenic factor. The unregulated growth of the wild boar population against the background of poorly controlled movement of pig products from affected areas leads to an increased risk of the virus introduction into the population of the wild susceptible animals. The control strategy adopted by the competent authorities of Italy includes a zonal principle for the selection and implementation of a set of measures. The main control approaches are depopulation of pigs in the unprotected pig sector (PSF), restriction of wild boar migration with the help of fences, as well as active search and removal of carcasses of wild boars, followed by local depopulation of wild boar in the infected zone, reduction of its density in the threatened zone along with measures aimed at early detection of the disease, and enhanced biosecurity measures.