Pig disease outbreak triggers mass cull across Switzerland

More than 10,500 pigs have been slaughtered or put down as Switzerland responds to enzootic pneumonia across a network of farms spanning 14 cantons. The highly contagious disease has affected 60 breeding and fattening operations, prompting authorities to order entire farm clearances and restrict animal movements.

The outbreak was detected on September 9, the Lucerne cantonal veterinary service said. Authorities have ordered the complete clearance of 20 farms across six cantons. Movement restrictions remain in place at 40 affected pig-fattening farms, part of a wider effort to contain transmission.

The measures reach beyond individual infected holdings. Cantonal veterinary services are assessing farms one by one, while vets visit neighbouring farms to check the health of their pigs. The scale of the response reflects the spread across a connected network of holdings, rather than a single isolated site.

For farmers, the immediate impact includes animals removed under official orders and restrictions on moving livestock. Authorities say farmers whose pigs are culled will be compensated. The disease affects pigs, but it poses no risk to people, and eating pork presents no risk.

Lucerne has recorded the largest reported toll, with 5,200 pigs culled. Authorities there removed animals from 10 breeding farms and one fattening farm. The canton is at the centre of the national response as veterinary teams monitor farms and enforce measures intended to limit further spread.

Bern is also among the hardest-hit areas. Three affected breeding farms housed about 1,700 pigs. In Vaud, 950 pigs were culled on one affected farm. A second Vaud farm has been allowed to complete its fattening cycle before it is sanitised, showing that authorities are deciding measures farm by farm.

The 14 affected cantons also include Neuchâtel and Valais. The cases span French-speaking Switzerland as well as cantons elsewhere in the country, requiring local veterinary services to manage controls across a wide area. The figures reported for Lucerne, Bern and Vaud show the scale in three locations, not a complete breakdown of the national total.

The authorities’ individual assessments determine the risk at each holding. Veterinary visits to neighbouring farms provide another layer of surveillance, checking animals close to affected sites while restrictions remain in force.

Movement restrictions cover 40 affected fattening farms across 14 cantons. Animal transfers are prohibited while infection cannot be ruled out, or until a herd has been cleared of infection. The restrictions are designed to prevent pigs from carrying the disease from one holding to another during the response.

Authorities have ordered 20 farms in six cantons to be completely cleared. Elsewhere, cantonal veterinary services are assessing the risk individually. That approach has produced different instructions for different farms: in Vaud, for example, one holding may finish its fattening cycle before sanitisation, while another affected farm has already had 950 pigs culled.

Veterinarians are also visiting neighbouring farms to check the health of pigs kept there. These checks extend surveillance beyond the holdings already identified as affected. Officials have said there is so far no indication that farms outside the affected area have been infected.

Farmers are being urged to remain vigilant and follow biosecurity measures strictly. The response builds on the day-to-day work of cantonal veterinary services, which are implementing restrictions and monitoring herds as infection is assessed. Movement controls will stay in place until infection is ruled out or the relevant herd is cleared.

Enzootic pneumonia is a disease of pigs, not a food-safety threat to people. Authorities say there is no risk to humans and no risk from eating pork. The outbreak response is focused on animal health and stopping infection from spreading between farms.

For pig farmers whose animals are culled under official orders, compensation is available. That provision addresses some of the direct losses caused by the cull, while movement restrictions continue to affect farms where infection has not yet been ruled out or the herd has not been cleared.

The outbreak also comes as Swiss authorities have been tightening farm biosecurity against other animal-health threats. In September, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office set out new biosecurity requirements for pig farms to protect against African swine fever. The current enzootic pneumonia outbreak is a separate disease, and the published information does not link the two.

For now, the next steps remain practical: veterinary checks at affected and neighbouring holdings, strict biosecurity on farms, and restrictions on animal transfers until infection can be excluded or herds cleared. Authorities are urging farmers to stay vigilant as those controls continue across the affected cantons.