The life expectancy of Ukrainian wild boars infected with the African swine fever virus (ASF) has increased, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was reported by Polish scientist Tomasz Podgurski (Institute of Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences), reports the Polish publication tygodnik-rolniczy.pl.
It was previously believed that animals carrying the virus died within two weeks. However, studies have shown that the percentage of wild boars capable of carrying the virus for a longer period of time is increasing.
“It is not fully known why wild boars infected with ASF are living longer and longer. Antibodies are detected in shot animals, and, fortunately, such individuals make up a small percentage of the population. But until recently there were less than one percent of them, and now there are already several percent,” says Podgursky.
In Ukraine, the disease has not subsided for five years in a row. Last year, about 170 outbreaks of the disease were registered in the country, this year there are already more than 120. The losses suffered by Ukrainian farmers due to the spread of the virus amount to billions of hryvnia.