The European Commission and EU member states have now approved Sweden's application to be declared free from African swine fever, ASF, following the outbreak in wild boar in Fagersta.
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Thus, the fight has gone faster than what any other EU country has previously succeeded in doing.
Once the EU decision has entered into force, the Swedish Agricultural Agency will lift the last restrictions and begin the process of dismantling the fence around the core area.
On September 6, 2023, the first case of ASF was confirmed in Sweden, after test results from the Statens veterinärmedicinska anstalt, SVA, showed that a dead wild boar outside Fagersta was carrying the infection.
On 7 September, the Swedish Agricultural Agency decided to establish an infected zone of approximately 1,000 square kilometers with extensive restrictions that applied in the zone.
Since then, the Swedish Agricultural Agency, together with SVA, has carried out intensive work with infection tracking and control in close collaboration with, among others, the Swedish Hunters' Association, local hunters and affected municipalities.
Just over a year after the first case, Sweden is days away from being formally declared free from ASF again. On September 20, the EU's standing veterinary committee PAFF approved the Swedish application for a declaration of exemption by vote.
The remaining step is for the EU's official newspaper to publish information that Sweden formally has the status of ASF-free, which is expected to happen within a week.
"It feels fantastic! We have reached the last and long-awaited endpoint of the swine fever outbreak in Fagersta, says Lena Hellqvist Björnerot, at the Swedish Agency for Agriculture and Sweden's chief veterinarian.
"The fact that we have been exonerated so quickly is entirely based on cooperation and perseverance in the combat work and on the part of those affected by the measures.
"The list of everyone who has contributed is long, but I still want to emphasize that without the Swedish Hunters' Association, all the local hunters who searched for carcasses, the cooperation of the municipalities and all the residents and businesses who followed the restrictions we have decided on, it would not have been possible. Thanks!"
The district veterinarians, who are part of the Swedish Agricultural Agency, have led the work on site from the operational command center that was established in Fagersta on September 9, 2023.
SVA will, in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Agriculture and other actors, evaluate the management of the outbreak to see how the ability to prevent and manage any new outbreaks can be further sharpened.
The Swedish Agricultural Agency will also begin the process to dismantle the fence around the so-called core area.
All signs with information about the infection will also be taken down. The work on this is estimated to take a week or so.
All formal obstacles to the movement and trade of pigs and pig products within the EU are removed.
For countries outside the EU - so-called third countries - Sweden will inform that Sweden is again free of the disease and thus request that these countries also lift any remaining restrictions on the import of current pig products.
Sweden will also send a so-called self-declaration to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), to further declare globally that it is once again free of African swine fever also among wild boar.
The Swedish Agency for Agriculture's total cost of handling the outbreak is SEK 113 million [9,995,189.00 euros]. The figure refers to the period 2023-09-06 – 2024-08-31. ■