However, the "maximum commitment" of all those responsible is necessary to prevent spreading to Germany, said Andriukaitis on Thursday in Berlin. He spoke on the occasion of the Green Week agricultural fair, which was due to open in the evening.

The EU commissioner appealed to Russia to provide reliable data, especially about infected wild boar. Russia has since withdrawn its claim that swine fever came to Russia via the EU. Beyond that nothing happened. Russia did not respond to the proposal for a partnership in the surveillance of swine fever.

Andriukaitis said that it had been documented that swine fever first migrated from Africa to Georgia, then to Russia in 2009 and from there to Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Poland. The pathogen is harmless to humans. In pigs, however, the disease is fatal in almost all cases. There is no vaccine against the disease.