Prosciutto production in Italy under threat due to swine fever outbreak

Published Oct 2, 2024

Tridge summary

The outbreak of African swine fever in northern Italy is jeopardizing the country's pork industry, particularly the production of prosciutto, which is part of a sector worth 20 billion euros. Originating from wild boars, the disease has resulted in the culling of thousands of pigs and could potentially inflict 500 million euros in damages. The crisis has led to import bans from countries like China and Mexico, causing a monthly loss of 20 million euros for Italy. Giovanni Filippini has been appointed as a new commissioner to tackle the issue, enforcing farm access restrictions to curb the disease's spread, which threatens Italy's pig farming and its famous pork products.

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Original content

The spread of African swine fever in farms in northern Italy is threatening the production of the local delicacy prosciutto, the American agency Associated Press (AP) reported. According to the agency, cases of African swine fever in sows began to be recorded on Italian farms in late August. The spread began due to an outbreak of the disease in wild boars. The agency mentioned one farm south of Milan, where a farmer had to slaughter all 6,200 sows, piglets and fattening pigs within a week to prevent the spread of the disease. The surge in African swine fever has begun to threaten Italy's prosciutto, cured sausage and pork industry, which is estimated at 20 billion euros and includes all the farms and factories in the country. "The limited availability of fresh pig feet is causing serious problems in production," the Parma Ham Consortium (Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma) said in a statement. It is noted that the damage to the industry could be estimated at 500 million euros, and ...

Source: Kvedomosti