“We are forced to face one serious health emergency why the action of prevention as we have repeatedly denounced in the streets and in institutional offices in the face of the multiplication of wild boars that invade cities and countryside from north to south of Italy where there are now more than 2,3 million specimens. This is what the president of the Coldiretti Ettore Prandini after the confirmed case of African swine fever and two others awaiting confirmation, between Piedmont and Liguria, as has already happened in Germany and Eastern Europe.
We have repeatedly highlighted - says Prandini - the risk of the spread of African Swine Fever (Psa) through the wild boars and the need for their numerical and spatial reduction through hunting activities, the control actions of law 157/92 article 19 and programmable actions in the network of protected areas. Now we need immediately - Prandini warns - a synergistic action on several fronts also with appointment of a commissioner able to coordinate the activities of the prefects and the police called to intensify the interventions, to protect and defend the farms from this serious threat which risks causing very serious economic damage to businesses.
La African swine fever which - specifies Prandini - can affect wild boars and pigs and is highly contagious and often lethal for these animals, but is not, on the other hand, transmissible to humans. Immediate action is now needed to stop the proliferation of wild boars e ensure the safety of farms but it is also necessary - continues Prandini - to carefully monitor the situation to avoid exploitation and speculation to the detriment of the sector. Finally, there is a need to launch common initiatives a European level because - concludes Prandini - the high risk of an uncontrolled influx of plague bearers depends on the fragility of the country's natural borders.