French farmers and hunters licensed by their government are currently building an electric fence across the forest blanketing the border with Belgium after a case of African swine fever (ASF) was detected in a wild boar there.

The local farmer and hunter associations have also installed repellent material where roads interrupt the fence. The disease has spread from eastern Europe in the last five years and poses a major threat to pig farms and pigmeat exports.

European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis addressed the Council of EU agriculture ministers on Monday to impress on them the urgency of the situation.

“The fight is far from over,” he said after the meeting, insisting that “jumps” in the spread of the disease were caused by human activity. “Mobilisation from public authorities but also farmers, hunters, travellers, truck drivers and so on must remain very high.”

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