“It took years to eradicate African swine fever from Sardinia. But all this enormous work risks being in vain ».
The alarm was raised by Alberto Laddomada , former scientific manager of the ASF eradication project unit on the island, who highlighted the very high risk represented by the proposal under discussion in the regional council to derogate from the absolute ban on grazing wild envisaged by regional law 28 of 2018.
«The activity of the Project Unit – explains Laddomada to L'UnioneSarda.it – was fundamental in eradicating illegally kept pigs and therefore in defeating swine fever in Sardinia and this is an unequivocal fact. And the same project unit acted precisely with the aim of bringing farms back into legality, eliminating wild pastures , which - data and experience show - are the greatest risk factor for the incubation and spread of the infection . Now we don't understand why we want to go back, just for electoral purposes , jeopardizing the hard work of years".
«In Sardinia - continues the former head of the Project Unit, who also worked in Brussels as a European manager for animal health - we got rid of ASF, but in various Italian regions, such as Liguria and Piedmont, and in various territories Europeans, such as in Germany and the Balkans, swine fever is present and it is difficult to solve the problem, despite the interventions put in place".
«The circulation of meat – continues Laddomada – can increase the risk of importing the virus into Sardinia. But it is clear that checking all vehicles arriving on the island and all their loads is becoming impossible. Therefore, the main means we have to reduce the risks is to prevent wild grazing and contact between pigs and wild boars ».
Furthermore, underlines the expert, «the authorized farms must be solely and exclusively regular and under strict veterinary monitoring . Otherwise the danger of a new epidemic will once again be very high, with devastating results . And in fact, many in the sector are of the effects that the derogation could have".
