The specialist hounds are currently being trained in the northeastern Swiss canton of Thurgau that borders Germany. Outbreaks of the disease have recently occurred in northern Italy and Germany.
The Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs assumes that there is a high risk that ASF will arrive in Switzerland, the canton of Thurgau said in a statement on Friday. ASF is a viral epizootic disease that is fatal for domestic and wild pigs, but not dangerous to humans.
In pigs, the disease almost always leads to death within a few days. Initially, the animals show symptoms such as fever and listless behaviour. There is no vaccine or treatment option.
ASF is highly contagious. Transmission occurs through direct contact between infected animals via body fluids, but also through the consumption of contaminated food waste or pork products. Even contaminated vehicles, equipment or clothing transmit the virus to animals.
The economic consequences of such an epidemic would be considerable for local agriculture. For this reason, the Thurgau cantonal veterinary office set up a specialised team in 2021 to prepare for an African swine fever epidemic.
Gotthard traffic queue hits 20km during holiday weekend
This content was published on
The traffic jam at the Gotthard north portal reached a length of 20 kilometres on the motorway between canton Nidwalden and canton Uri.
Swiss Interior Minister visits Cannes Film Festival
This content was published on
Swiss Interior Minister left the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday after three days of intensive dialogue, meetings and film screenings.
Swiss theatre director breaks with tradition at Vienna’s Rathausplatz
This content was published on
With the proclamation of the "Free Republic of Vienna", the start of the festival on Friday evening was unusually political.
Swiss foreign minister backs Berset at Council of Europe
This content was published on
Cassis described Berset as the "ideal candidate" to help the Council realise its aim of ensuring security and peace in Europe.
Gay conversion therapy banned in Swiss canton of Valais
This content was published on
On Thursday, the canton approved a new Health Act which includes a ban on therapies aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.
This content was published on
Some aspects of pro-Palestine sit-ins have gone too far, but the right to protest and debate must be upheld, the student association has said.
This content was published on
Laurent Kaiser and his team at the lab, which is the national reference centre for flu, have developed a fast test for the virus. But while the A/H1N1 strain of swine flu is causing concern, the professor warns that potentially more deadly bird flu must not be forgotten. Kaiser was a guest speaker on the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.