Finland closes wildlife crossings on Russian border to curb swine fever
Finland's Border Guard is temporarily closing all wildlife passages built into the fence along its eastern border after African swine fever was detected in the country. Passages on the southeastern border section have been closed since August 1.
Finland's Border Guard has announced it is temporarily closing all passages in the border fence that were previously left open for wild animals to cross the eastern border. The move follows the first detection of African swine fever (ASF) in Finland on July 30.
On the southeastern section of the border, the passages have been closed since August 1.
Virus found in wild boar
ASF was detected in wild boar in Finland. The most recent dead animals were found on August 6 in Virolahti, and laboratory analysis of samples taken from them is currently underway to determine how widely the virus has spread.
It has previously been suggested that the virus may have entered Finland from Russian territory, though there is no definitive confirmation of this so far. Since wild boar cross the border in both directions, closing the wildlife corridors could also help prevent the disease from spreading further on the Russian side.
Search for dead boar underway
Finland has enlisted up to a hundred hunters to search the countryside for dead wild boar, in order to determine how widely the virus has already spread.
African swine fever is a deadly disease for domestic and wild pigs, for which no vaccine currently exists. It poses no danger to humans and cannot be transmitted even by eating meat from an infected pig.
