For travellers about African swine fever

Travelers arriving from abroad play an important role in keeping African swine fever and other similar animal diseases out of Finland, as viruses can spread through food products, goods and people.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and fatal hemorrhagic disease affecting domestic pigs, wild boar and miniature pigs. The disease does not infect humans. African swine fever is present in several of Finland’s neighboring countries and in many countries across Europe.

African swine fever spreads through, among other things, domestic pigs and wild boar, raw or insufficiently cooked meat products, and items contaminated with the ASF virus. The virus that causes the disease survives well in the environment and therefore spreads efficiently. There is no vaccine or treatment for African swine fever. To eradicate the disease, all pigs on an infected farm must be culled. The disease poses a major economic threat to Finland’s pig production sector and meat industry.