ASF Germany: 118 cases in wild boar in NRW state

The number of outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) among wild boar in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia continues to rise slowly. Late August 2025, the count had reached 118. Pig farms have so far managed to keep the virus at bay.

North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany’s most populous state, with large cities like Cologne, Dortmund, Essen and Düsseldorf. The state also borders the Netherlands and Belgium.

The good news is that the infected boar are consistently found in a limited, fenced-off area, called infected zone II, which comes with a strict biosecurity regime. That area includes parts of the districts of Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein, about 75 km east of Cologne. If the virus ultimately remains confined to these zones, the virus is expected to eventually wither.

The first outbreaks of ASF in North Rhine-Westphalia emerged in June of this year. Detailed investigation into the background of the virus has revealed a similarity with outbreaks in Calabria, in the far south of Italy.

That means that the outbreaks in North Rhine-Westphalia are likely unrelated to the outbreak in the state of Hesse. In that state, located between the cities of Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim, the situation is considerably more complex. The outbreaks began there in June 2024. Since then, 2,244 wild boars have died in Hesse alone, 1,611 of which occurred in 2025 by the end of August. In total, 9 pig farms also got affected last year.

Meanwhile, Poland, as every year, is struggling with a summer surge of ASF outbreaks, which occasionally affects pig farms. So far this year, 15 farms have fallen victim to an ASF outbreak, which is still considerably lower than the figure for 2024 (44 outbreaks). These farms were primarily located in the western province of Western Pomerania (near the German border) and the eastern province of Lublin (near the Ukrainian border). The largest Polish pig farm affected by ASF this year had a herd of nearly 7,500 animals.

Tags: outbreaks, wild boar, Poland, African Swine Fever, Germany