The Finnish Food Authority’s tests, completed on Friday, have confirmed a case of African swine fever in a wild boar found dead in Hirvikoski, Pyhtää. The finding was made approximately 40 km west of the previous African swine fever infected zone boundary. The remains of an adult wild boar were found in a field.
Due to the finding, the Finnish Food Authority amended its decision on the African swine fever (ASF) infected zone in force in Southeast Finland, on 28 August 2026. The geographical boundaries of the infected zone will change, but the core area within it is not changed for the time being.
The new area of the infected zone includes the municipalities of Kotka, Hamina and Pyhtää in their entirety and the parts of the city of Loviisa, the municipality of Lapinjärvi and the city of Kouvola that are located south of the boundary that runs in a west-east direction from the Gulf of Finland along the Koskenkylänjoki river to the Porvoo motorway (E18), from there along the main road 6 to Elimäki, the boundary continues as Elimäentie (road 354) to Inkeroinen, from where it follows the railway to the border of Kotka.
The new area of the infected zone is currently only subject to restrictions on pigs and wild boar, as well as meat, meat products and germinal products thereof. Hunting is prohibited in the new area as well.
In addition to the hunting ban, there are also feeding bans for wild animals:
- Feeding wild boar living in the wild is prohibited, except when organised by the Finnish Food Authority.
- Feeding of wild animals other than wild boar referred to in section 9) is prohibited. The prohibition does not apply to feeding methods and techniques that prevent wild boar from eating the feed or feeding with feed that does not attract wild boar to the feeding site.
- Bait feeding wild animals is prohibited.
The new area of the infected zone is not currently subject to the restrictions on access to the area defined in the previous decision. More detailed restrictions for the new area will be decided next week. At the same time, the need to change the restrictions in the old part of the infected zone will be examined.
The new map of the infected zone is available on the Finnish Food Authority’s website.
More information:
- New decision on the infected zone 28 August 2026 (pdf) (in Finnish)
Appendix 1 Map of the infected zone (pdf) (in Finnish) - asf26@ruokavirasto.fi
- ASF in Finland 2026
- African swine fever
- Frequently asked questions about African swine fever (in Finnish)
- Instructions on applying for ASF exemptions (in Finnish)