Swine pneumonia epidemic also hits a farm in Graubünden

A farm of 100 pigs in Graubünden has been hit by the enzootic pneumonia outbreak currently affecting several Swiss cantons. Cantonal veterinarian Giochen Bearth confirmed this to the news agency Keystone-ATS. The farm is among the fattening operations covered by the sanitary measures ordered by the veterinary authorities.

To stop the spread of infection, the farm has been placed under a first-degree lockdown, which bars both the arrival of new animals and the transfer of existing ones out of the site. The measure will remain in force until the end of the current fattening period. Bearth explained that once this phase ends, the pigs will be slaughtered and the farm cleaned and disinfected before new animals can be introduced. Meat from the slaughtered animals will pose no risk to those who consume it.

Spread to other cantons

The veterinary service of the canton of Lucerne reported that a total of 20 breeding farms are affected across Switzerland, in the cantons of Bern, Lucerne, Solothurn, Schwyz, Thurgau and Vaud, along with 40 fattening farms spread across 14 cantons, including Graubünden. The measures affect around 1,500 breeding pigs and their piglets, in addition to the animals on fattening farms such as the one affected in Graubünden.

The infection was discovered last week. Until then, Switzerland was considered largely free of enzootic pneumonia, a contagious respiratory disease found worldwide, following an eradication effort carried out between 1996 and 2004. The disease poses no danger to humans, but its return after twenty years ends a long period during which Swiss farms had remained unaffected.

It remains to be seen what practical consequences the lockdowns will have for the farmers involved, who must comply with the timelines and procedures set by the veterinary authorities, and whether the disease's reappearance will lead to stronger health controls on Swiss farms.