France: new ASF prevention measures

This extension, under the advisement of ANSES, increases the current observation area in the Ardennes department along the Belgian border. The decree also introduces exceptions to the ban on forest activity, specifically for the gathering of firewood by private individuals for heating purposes.

France is free of ASF and to avoid the risk of introducing the virus, France has implemented an ambitious action plan to protect the territory.

A fence has been put up in the departments of Ardennes, Meuse and Meurthe-et-Moselle, to define a buffer zone, uninhabited by wild boar, and an observation area with respect to the infected area in Belgium. Construction work on the fences has been completed, with a total of 132 km of fences which connect with Belgian fences. The decree changes the perimeter of the observation area along the last section of the fence in Ardennes. Hunters and officials from the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS) are maintaining strong hunting pressure there, which is essential to protect the territory from introduction of the virus.

Furthermore, based on ANSES' advisement, the decree introduces exceptions to the ban on forest activity. Exemptions, subject to strict compliance with biosecurity measures and under a declaration to the prefecture, are authorized for the harvesting of firewood by private individuals, reserved for domestic use (gathering and cutting of wood by private owners).

The health status at the European level has significantly changed in recent weeks, with cases of ASF in Poland about 40 km from the German border.

This worrisome situation is a reminder of the critical importance of everyone's (farmers, transportation personnel, individuals, hunters) compliance with biosecurity measures.

Monday, December 16, 2019/ Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Alimentation/ France.
https://agriculture.gouv.fr