Over 19,000 pigs have been culled on a commercial Lithuanian pig farm after African Swine Fever (ASF) was discovered there last week.

This is the second large outbreak of the disease in Europe in a week after a case was discovered in Poland, 3km from the Belarussian border. ASF has been discovered on pig farms in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus since January of this year. Russia subsequently banned all imports of pork and pigmeat from Europe. ASF is a virus but cannot be contracted by humans.

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is trying to intervene in the dispute between the European Union (EU) and Russia. The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) department of the WTO is attempting to broker a deal between the two blocs.

The EU is arguing that ASF outbreaks have only occurred near the Russian border and countries like Ireland should receive a derogation to export pork to Russia. Russia says the outbreaks in different countries shows that the EU is incapable of dealing with ASF.