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Summary:

Luxembourg confirmed on 18 February 2002 an outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF) in a farm in eastern Luxembourg about 15 kilometers from Germany. The outbreak was located near areas that were under special control due to CSF in wild boar. Luxembourg was not considered CSF-free by the USDA. Luxembourg has begun destroying 8,000 pigs suspected to have been exposed to CSF. As of 23 February, Luxembourg has extended country-wide veterinary surveillance and animal movement restrictions after new cases appeared in other farms and wild boar cases were confirmed in eastern, northern, and southern Luxembourg. The European Union has stopped exports from Luxembourg until 15 March. Luxembourg's stock of 85,000 live swine in 2000 accounted for less than 0.1 percent of world stocks. Combined Belgium-Luxembourg pig meat production was 1.1 percent of world production; 4.6 percent of world exports of live swine; and 5.6 percent of world exports of pig meat. Luxembourg’s contribution to the combined figures was likely small, since the Luxembourg swine herd was only 1.1 percent of the combined Belgium-Luxembourg herd. The US imported no live swine or relevant swine products from Luxembourg in 1999, 2000, or 2001.

How extensive is the situation in the affected country and what was the country’s disease status prior to the outbreak?

Luxembourg reported on 18 February 2002 an outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF) in a farm in Colbette, eastern Luxembourg about 15 kilometers from Germany. This outbreak was located immediately adjacent to an area that had been under special European Commission control measures due to CSF in wild boar, but no movement restrictions. Confirmation was reported by the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre in Belgium that serves as the reference laboratory for Luxembourg.

Prior to this February 2002 outbreak, control measures in some areas of Luxembourg included zoning, monitoring, surveillance, stamping out, screening, control of wildlife reservoirs, and vaccination prohibition. Luxembourg has now extended veterinary surveillance to all of the country’s territory (an area slightly smaller than Rhode Island) after new outbreaks in wild boar were reported in eastern, northern, and southern Luxembourg. In January 2002 and November 2001, Luxembourg had reported CSF outbreaks in wild boars in its eastern region. Germany has experienced numerous outbreaks in swine fattening and breeding farms during 2001 and 2002, and at least several outbreaks were attributed to wild boar. The USDA has not considered Luxembourg to be free of CSF.

Source: OIE Disease Information Report, FAS , Newsline, and USDA-APHIS International Services

What is Luxembourg’s production and trade in affected animals and animal products?

Luxembourg's stock of 85,000 live swine in 2000 accounted for less than 0.1 percent of world stocks. The number of head slaughtered was less than 0.1 percent of world production. Total pig meat production for Luxembourg was not reported separately from Belgium. Combined Belgium-Luxembourg pig meat production was 1.1 percent of total world production. The percentage of the total production attributable to Luxembourg is unavailable, though likely small, since the total Luxembourg swine herd (85,000 head) accounts for only one percent of the total Belgium-Luxembourg herd (7,406,000 head). Exports of live swine from Belgium and Luxembourg accounted for 4.6 percent of world exports in live swine in 2000, and approximately 5.6 percent of world exports in pig meat (Table 1). Most exports from the region remained in the EU.

Table 1: Production and trade in swine and pig meat, Luxembourg,

2000 (Production) and 1999 (Trade)

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization; FAS Gain Report #BE1005 "Belgium-Luxembourg Livestock and Products Semi-Annual 2001"

What are the US imports of affected animals or animal products from Luxembourg?

The US imported no live swine and no fresh, frozen, or processed swine products from Luxembourg in 1999, 2000, or 2001.

Source: World Trade Atlas; FAS

What is the level of passenger traffic arriving in the United States from the affected country?

A total of 15,526 passengers arrived on direct flights to the US from Luxembourg in fiscal year 2000. This number does not include passengers who arrived in the US from Luxembourg via indirect flights.

As part of APHIS-PPQ’s agriculture quarantine inspection monitoring, 34 air passengers from Luxembourg were sampled for items of agricultural interest in fiscal year 2000. None of those 34 sampled passengers was found to be carrying a product that could potentially harbor the CSF virus.

Source: US Department of Transportation, and APHIS-PPQ Agricultural Quarantine Inspection data base

What are CEI’s plans for follow up?

As of 25 February 2002, CEI has no plans for further reporting on CSF in Luxembourg. If you seek more information or wish to comment on this worksheet, please reply by e-mail or contact Jennifer Grannis at (970) 490-7844 or David Cummings at (970) 490-7895.

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