The Italian region of Piedmont said on Friday that the deadly African swine fever disease had been detected in a wild boar in the region.
The government added in a statement that tests had confirmed that a dead pig had contracted the disease in Ovada, about 120 km southwest of Milan in northern Italy.
African swine fever is harmless to humans, but it is often fatal to pigs, causing financial losses to farmers.
The disease originated in Africa before spreading to Europe and Asia and killing hundreds of millions of pigs worldwide.
This discovery may represent a blow to meat producers in Italy because governments often prevent the import of pork products from countries where the disease is detected as a way to prevent its spread, according to “Reuters”.
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