“It is a totally new challenge for the feed industry --- a number of feed components can be quite a good environment for the virus, which can stay infectious for a longer time”

In our final conversation about ASF with Dr. Tomasz Trela, technical manager for swine at Boehringer Ingelheim's regional centre covering Central and Eastern Europe, he emphasises the evidence connecting ASF infection to feed sources. These could be green crops harvested from contaminated fields, but also the virus has been detected in feed-mills in some countries and delivery vehicles may need to be diverted around hot-spots where infected wild boar are found.