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unsplash-logoMagdalena Smolnicka 

African swine fever was eliminated in Europe in the 1990s, but reemerged in central and eastern Europe five years ago and was detected in Belgium last autumn. The EU said the disease is untreatable and “usually deadly”.

Tests of 131 wild boar found dead in Luxembourg were all negative, according to a news release issued by the agriculture ministry and environment ministry on 20 March.

“So far, no case of African swine fever in wild boar or pigs has been detected in our territory,” the government stated. Nevertheless, authorities “will install an 8km fence along the bike path parallel to the border in the coming days”.

In addition, the ministries have set up a “surveillance zone” running from the A6 motorway in Steinfort in the north, to Luxembourg City in the east, to the A4 motorway in Esch-Alzette in the south, to the Belgian and French borders in the west.

The ministries said they are studying the establishment of a “white area” along the frontier where wild boar could be culled.

In January, the French government said it would cull wild boar in a zone along its border with Belgium.

Later that month, the Danish government said it was building a 70km anti-swine fence on its border with Germany to protect Denmark’s €4bn pork industry (even though no cases had been detected in Germany).