News of the week in plain Finnish | Saturday 8.8.2026

African swine fever

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There has been a lot of talk this week about African swine fever.

Wild boars have been found in Virolahti near the eastern border that have died from African swine fever.

The disease has never been seen in Finland before. Extensive restrictions are being imposed to prevent its spread.

Now we will tell you more about it.

Infection area on the eastern border

Map of Southeast Finland, with the African swine fever infection zone in Virolahti, Miehikkälä and Lappeenranta Uplands marked in yellow. The core area of the infection zone is marked in orange.

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Virolahti, Miehikkälä and Lappeenranta Uplands are areas infected with African swine fever. Photo: Pekka Sipilä / Yle, Mapcreator, OpenStreetMap

African swine fever has been found in Finland for the first time. The disease was found in wild boars in Virolahti last week. The day before yesterday, Thursday, more dead wild boars were found in the same area.

African swine fever is a serious animal disease. Pigs or wild boars die from the disease. There is no treatment or vaccine for it.

Humans are not infected with swine fever. However, the virus spreads easily among humans.

Long and strict restrictions

two wild boars standing in tall grass.

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The Natural Resources Institute Finland estimates that there are approximately 2,400 wild boars in Finland. Most of them are found in the border area of southeastern Finland. Photo: Mostphotos

The Finnish Food Authority has imposed strict restrictions on the eastern border in an attempt to prevent the spread of African swine fever.

For example, hunting, forestry work, and walking dogs are not permitted in the infected area. In the core area, i.e. near the location where dead wild boars were found, picking berries or mushrooms or even walking in the forest is not permitted.

Movement in the forest has been restricted to prevent wild boars from being frightened and moving to new areas. The restrictions are also intended to prevent the virus from being transmitted, for example, on human shoes or dog paws.

The restrictions may last for more than a year.

A hard blow to the meat industry

The picture shows a yellow-black striped cardboard box. Inside it are instructions on how to take samples from a wild boar for testing for African swine fever. At the edge of the picture are the vacuum tube and syringe used for taking a blood sample.

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Finland has been able to anticipate the arrival of African swine fever, as the disease has been found in neighboring countries Sweden and Estonia. Photo: Jarmo Koponen / Yle

The Finnish Food Authority and local hunters are currently combing the infected area. The aim is to find all the dead wild boars and test them for swine fever. The Finnish Food Authority can then assess how widely the disease has spread.

African swine fever is a major blow to the Finnish meat industry. Although the disease has only been found in wild boars, pork exports to countries such as China and Japan have already stopped. Export bans could last for several years.

There will also be losses for forestry, because logging and forestry work is prohibited in the restricted area.

Repetition

This week’s news was about African swine fever. Let’s recap a bit.

African swine fever has been found in Finland for the first time.

Restrictions have been imposed on the eastern border around the discovery site in an attempt to prevent the spread of swine fever.

Pigs and wild boars die from the disease, but it does not infect humans.

Due to swine fever, pork exports to many Asian countries have been suspended.

Here was the News of the Week in plain Finnish. Let’s hear it!