Swine fever as justification for recreational hunting

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most consequential animal diseases in Europe. It kills wild boar and domestic pigs, is harmless to humans, and has carved a path of economic devastation across the continent since 2007. This dossier compiles the key facts, critically examines the role of recreational hunting, and demonstrates why the political instrumentalization of this disease poses a problem for wildlife, animal welfare and public safety.

What awaits you here

Facts instead of panic: What ASF actually is, how it transmits, and why the common narratives of the hobby hunting lobby do not withstand critical examination.

European overview: How the disease has spread since 2007, which countries are currently affected, and which strategies have failed or succeeded.

Switzerland, Germany, Austria: What applies in each country, which measures are being discussed, and what role recreational hunting plays.

Arguments: Clearly formulated counterarguments to the claim that more recreational hunting is the solution against ASF.

Quick links: All relevant articles, studies and sources at a glance.

What is African swine fever?

ASF is a viral disease that exclusively affects domestic and wild pigs. It is harmless to humans and other animal species. The virus is extremely resistant: In carcasses, raw sausage, ham and processed meat it can remain infectious for months to years, especially in cold conditions.

The disease is almost always fatal in European domestic and wild boars. There is no approved vaccine. Control relies on prevention, early detection and preventing further spread.

How is ASF transmitted?

Direct transmission

Contact between infected and healthy pigs, primarily through blood, but also saliva, secretions and semen. Typical routes include contact with carcasses, scavenging and dominance fights within the sounder.

Indirect transmission

Consumption of contaminated meat products and food scraps (raw sausage, ham, undercooked meat). Contact with contaminated objects such as vehicles, recreational hunting equipment, shoes, clothing, tools or feed on which virus particles adhere.

The key role of humans

Humans cannot become infected, but play the decisive role in 'jump transmissions' over large distances. Travel provisions, sausage sandwiches at rest stops, recreational hunting tourism, transport of trophies and game meat: these are the documented routes by which the virus bridges hundreds of kilometers.

Within wild boar populations, spread occurs rather slowly within the framework of normal movement ranges. The sudden new outbreaks almost always arise through human activities, not through migrating wild boars.

Key message: The main responsibility for the spread of viral material between wild boar territories lies not with walkers, but with hunting activities. Those who regularly work with blood, carcasses and game meat carry a high transmission risk, and many of these individuals are simultaneously in close contact with livestock farming.

ASF in Europe: Chronicle of a spread

2007: Arrival in Georgia

The virus reached Georgia via a transport ship from Africa and spread rapidly into the Caucasus and Russia.

2014: Jump into the EU

The first detections in the EU occurred in the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and Poland. From there, ASF spread continuously westward in the following years.

2018–2020: Belgium and Germany

In September 2018, ASF was detected in wild boars in Belgium, far from the eastern outbreak areas, clear evidence of human spread. In September 2020, the first detection in Germany followed (Brandenburg, Spree-Neiße district).

2022: Northern Italy

In January 2022, ASF was detected for the first time on the Italian mainland in wild boars, in the Liguria/Piedmont region. The spread continues to this day.

2025: The jump to Spain

On November 27, 2025, ASF was confirmed in wild boars in Barcelona province, the first outbreak in Spain in over 30 years. The virus belongs to a previously undescribed strain (Group 29), with 27 point mutations and a large genetic deletion. How the virus reached Catalonia has not been conclusively clarified to this day. Contaminated food scraps are considered the most likely cause.

Status February 2026

In Spain, the number of ASF-positive wild boars has risen to over 100, all within the 6-km protection zone around Barcelona. Domestic pigs have not been affected so far. The economic impact is massive: around 70 percent of the third-country market for Spanish pork exports is blocked, the industry expects billions in damages. In Germany, restriction zones continue to exist in Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. In Poland, over 3000 ASF-positive wild boars were reported in 2025, in Latvia over 1100.

Germany: Epidemic as lever for intensive wild boar hunting

In Germany, ASF has been detected in several regions. The control strategy follows a phase model: initially recreational hunting ban in the core area, intensive carcass searches and fencing, followed by targeted wild boar removal and intensified hunting in the restriction zones.

Agricultural ministries and recreational hunting associations emphasize that hobby hunters should reduce wild boar populations 'with united forces': driven hunts, drone deployment, night hunting technology, and financial incentives per killed wild boar. The German Hunting Association presents ASF as central justification for intensified wild boar hunting.

The scientific evidence for this approach is thin. Studies show that intensive hunting startles wild boar populations, enlarges their movement ranges, and thus potentially spreads the virus faster rather than containing it. Added to this is the so-called compensatory reproduction effect.

Austria: Prevention with hunting rhetoric

Austria has so far been spared from ASF outbreaks in wild boar populations, but positions itself strongly through prevention and economic protection arguments. Official bodies warn that an outbreak would be 'fatal' for pig farmers.

For hobby hunters this means: recreational hunting trips to affected states should be conducted without bringing game meat, biosecurity rules must be observed, and wild boar hunting is communicated as a service to domestic agriculture. Thus hobby hunting is shifted toward supposedly 'systemically relevant' activity, while recreational hunting tourism simultaneously remains a significant transmission risk that should not be underestimated.

Switzerland: ASF-free, but in epidemic preparedness

Switzerland is officially free from African Swine Fever, but has been operating a national early detection program for wild boar since 2018. All wild boar found dead, killed while sick, or killed in traffic accidents should be reported and examined for ASF. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) coordinates the evaluation.

Cantons like Zurich, Lucerne, and Thurgau have prepared detailed scenarios: In case of an epidemic, intensive carcass searches, hobby hunting bans in defined zones, restrictions on forest use, and the killing of domestic pigs in affected operations would be planned.

The FSVO sees the greatest danger in improper handling of contaminated meat products, such as ham or salami, that travelers bring from affected regions. Particularly exposed is the southern corridor in Canton Ticino, where various precautions have been discussed, including information campaigns, controls, and scenarios for introduction from Northern Italy.

ASF fences: Death traps for wildlife

One of the most controversial instruments of ASF control are large-scale wild boar fences. In Brandenburg, a fence over 250 kilometers long was erected along the Polish border. In Denmark, a 70-kilometer fence stands at the German border.

The consequences for other wildlife are systematically downplayed: Roe deer get caught in the fences and perish, migration routes are interrupted, and the genetic mixing of populations is impaired long-term. Animal protection organizations and national park administrations have repeatedly pointed out the negative impacts.

The fences illustrate a fundamental problem: Instead of consistently preventing human transmission pathways, the 'solution' is shifted to restricting the freedom of movement of wildlife. But the disease does not travel on four legs over hundreds of kilometers—it travels in coolers, on hobby hunters' boots, and in sausage sandwiches.

Wolves as natural ASF fighters

Research results show that wolves can help reduce the spread of ASF in wild boar populations. Since wolves hunt wild boar and eat their carcasses, they reduce the viral load in the wild without spreading the virus themselves.

Carcasses of infected wild boar are the most dangerous virus source in the forest. Wolves eliminate these carcasses naturally, faster and more comprehensively than any official carcass search. At the same time, wolves keep wild boar populations moving and prevent large concentrations, which reduces transmission probability.

The irony: While wild boar hunting is being intensified in the name of ASF control on one hand, the natural regulators of wild boar populations — wolves — are being politically opposed and shot on the other.

Arguments: Why 'more recreational hunting' is not a solution

'Only through increased culling can ASF be contained'

False. EFSA emphasizes that compliance with biosecurity measures and avoiding hunting activities that can lead to spread are key to reducing ASF risk. Intensive hunting disturbs wild boar, enlarges their territories and can spread the disease faster.

'Hobby hunters are systemically relevant for disease control'

Carcass searches and sampling during disease outbreaks require trained personnel and coordinated operations. Hobby hunters, who regularly work with blood and game meat and move between different hunting grounds, themselves pose a significant risk of disease transmission. Professional wildlife wardens and veterinary authorities are better suited.

'Wild boar carry the disease into farms'

Wild boar are in practice virtually never directly in barns with domestic pigs. The decisive transmission pathway in livestock farming is indirect through contaminated shoes, vehicles, tools or meat products — through humans.

'Without recreational hunting, wild boar populations explode'

Under heavy recreational hunting pressure, wild boar populations respond with compensatory reproduction: more piglets per sow, earlier sexual maturity. Population numbers have been rising for decades despite increasing culling numbers. The Geneva model shows that state wildlife management without recreational hunting works.

'ASF fences protect effectively'

Fences do not prevent the main transmission pathways (humans, meat products, vehicles), but become death traps for other wildlife and fragment habitats. They treat a symptom, not the cause.

'The virus spreads through wild boar migration'

The sudden new outbreaks across hundreds of kilometers are almost exclusively due to human transmission, often through recreational hunting tourism or contaminated meat products.

What really helps: Prevention without recreational hunting spiral

Stricter controls on meat product imports, especially from affected regions. Consistent education of travelers at border crossings, rest stops and airports. Safe disposal of food waste in public spaces and along transport routes. Targeted biosecurity measures in pig farming, including hygiene locks, access controls and training. Early warning systems and passive surveillance (reporting of dead animals found). Professional carcass management by veterinary authorities instead of hobby hunters. Promotion of natural regulators like wolves, which eliminate carcasses and influence wild boar populations. Research on vaccines and immunological contraception (GnRH technology).

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Our mission

ASF is a serious animal disease. But the way it is used politically to expand recreational hunting, legitimize more intensive hunting and primarily present wildlife as risk factors deserves critical examination. This dossier is continuously updated when new developments require it.

More on recreational hunting: In our Hunting dossier we compile fact-checks, analyses and background reports.