Published 16:24 IST, December 11th 2019
Germany preparing to prevent swine flu with drones, sniffer dogs and electrified fences
Germany is deploying drones, sniffer dogs and electrified fences in order to prevent the spread of Swine flu which can affect the growing pork industry.
Germany is deploying drones, sniffer dogs and electrified fences in order to prevent the spread of Swine flu which can affect the growing pork industry. Germany has a major pork exporting industry.
Germany has largest pork industry
Germany has the largest pork industry. As per records, 50 per cent of the pork industry in Germany which accounted for 5 million tonnes of pork is transported outside Germany to other countries. Most of the pork meat is exported in the markets of Europe, which is considered as the biggest exporter of meat. Swine flu is not harmful to human health but it can affect the pig population and cause severe bleeding in pigs and boars as it affects their clotting system.
Sarah Dhem, a representative of Germany's meat products association told international media that, there is a very high possibility that countries like China can impose a total ban on the import of pork meat. Just a single case of Swine flu will cause the country to lose billions of euros. Dhem said that last year when there were few cases of Swine flu detected in Belgium, it forced China to impose a complete ban on the import of pork.
It was reported that a case of Swine flu was detected when a boar near the town of Nowogrod Bobrzanski was suffering from fever. In another incident, in Saarland which is located near the French border, a group of sniffer dogs was deployed to locate the dead pigs in order to discard any potential carriers of the virus. In Saxony, which neighbours Poland, people are using drones and infrared cameras to locate the affected boars. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 50 kilometres long electrified fences are being used to prevent the boars from coming into the German side of the border. Denmark is also following the footsteps of Germany and putting a fence along a 70 kilometres border. It is ironical that Swine flu in China led to an increase in the demand for pork from Germany.
Updated 17:07 IST, December 11th 2019