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July 31 (Reuters) - Finland has detected African swine fever for the first time after laboratory tests found the virus in three wild boar piglets in eastern Finland, the Finnish Food Authority said in a statement issued on Thursday.
• The virus, which is harmless to humans but highly contagious and deadly in pigs, was detected in the municipality of Virolahti in the country's east near the Russian border.
• The Finnish Food Authority will verify the result with the EU's reference laboratory for African swine fever in Spain, it said.
• Finland established an infection zone around the area where the finding was made, and the movement of pigs in the zone is restricted.
• At the beginning of January 2026, there were an estimated 2,380 wild boars in the country, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland.
• African swine fever has spread from Africa to Europe and Asia, causing major losses in pig populations, triggering trade restrictions and affecting global meat markets.
• Cases have been detected and prompted the culling of pigs in recent years across Europe in Croatia, Spain, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Hungary and Serbia.
(Reporting by Elviira Luoma, editing by Terje Solsvik)
