The cost of your charcuterie board could be about to skyrocket as prosciutto producers in Italy reel from a wave of swine fever. 

The epidemic of African Swine Fever was largely contained to the Lombardy region but over September has also spread to Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, the home of Parma prosciutto. The haemorrhagic fever has led to the deaths of 120,000 pigs across Italy since it was detected in January 2022. 

The most recent wave of the virus has left fresh, uncontaminated pork legs a scarcity in Italy, as farmers and producers struggle to recover from the loss of their droves of pigs. The demand for prosciutto, particularly that of the Parma region remains as high as ever which isn’t a great sign for your next snack board. 

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Can we still import prosciutto to Australia?

Countries like Mexico, Taiwan and China have imposed a strict import ban on Italian pork products, while Australia maintains its already stringent import regulations. While Australia’s import regulations are of a high standard, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has not imposed an umbrella ban on Italian pork products, instead, it states that the pigs from which the meat is sourced must come from premises that have been free from African Swine Fever (among other diseases) for three months prior to slaughter. 

What is African Swine Fever?

African Swine Fever is a highly contagious virus among domestic and wild pigs. As a hemorrhagic virus, African Swine Fever is in the same family as Ebola and kills around 80 percent of pigs it infects by damaging blood vessels and causing massive internal bleeding. There is no registered vaccine, treatment, or cure for the disease.

Can African Swine Fever spread to humans?

Fortunately, African Swine Fever cannot be transmitted to humans either through contact with infected animals or from consuming pork products contaminated with the virus. It does not pose a threat to humans.

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