"We have come significantly further than we could have imagined at the outbreak's beginning," says Madeleine Haal Gertzell, deputy unit manager at the National Veterinary Institute's disease control unit, in a press release.
She points, among other things, to good cooperation between hunters, municipalities, and authorities, as well as the "incredible compliance" shown by the residents of the affected area in Fagersta.
"Everyone has understood the gravity of the situation, which has led to us being able to limit the spread of the infection," says Haal Gertzell.
The National Veterinary Institute has now submitted an application to the EU Commission with the wish to be declared free of infection by the end of September. It is the EU's member states that ultimately vote on when Sweden will be formally declared free of infection. This can happen at the earliest one year after the last case.
In total, 68 wild boar carcasses positive for ASF virus have been found in the infection zone, according to the National Veterinary Institute. 59 domestic pigs and 92 wild boars have been put down in the zone, but no spread of infection has been detected since the end of September last year.
