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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics

Assessment of African Swine Fever Impact in Bulgaria with Special Focus on the East Balkan Swine

Provisionally accepted
Elena LazzaroElena Lazzaro1,2Dessislava DimitrovaDessislava Dimitrova3Radostina DonevaRadostina Doneva4Lisa GuardoneLisa Guardone2,5Alessandro CristalliAlessandro Cristalli2Stefania CrovatoStefania Crovato1Jacopo GoracciJacopo Goracci6Hannes BergmannHannes Bergmann7Vasco MenconiVasco Menconi1*Giorgia AngeloniGiorgia Angeloni1
  • 1Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of the Venezie (IZSVe), Legnaro, Italy
  • 2Veterinari Senza Frontiere Italia, Legnaro, Italy
  • 3Institut po bioraznoobrazie i ekosistemni izsledvania B'lgarska akademia na naukite, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 4Association for Breeding and Preserving of the East Balkan Swine, Shumen, Bulgaria
  • 5Universita degli studi di Pisa Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Pisa, Italy
  • 6Slow Food Italia, Bra (CN), Italy
  • 7Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut Institut fur Epidemiologie, Greifswald, Germany

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African Swine Fever (ASF) represents a significant threat to global pig production, due to its high lethality rate and the ability of the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) to persist in wild boar populations and the environment. In areas where small-scale pig farming is an important economic activity and a diverse source of protein, the disease also significantly affects nutritional security, food sovereignty and self-sufficiency. This study, conducted in Bulgaria, investigated the impact of ASF on small-scale pig farmers and East Balkan Swine farmers. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining semi-structured interviews (n=30), structured questionnaires (n=10), and discussions with relevant authorities (n=7), including farmers, health authorities and local veterinarians. The results highlight the vulnerability of traditional pig farming methods, with a significant focus on the East Balkan Swine, the last native pig breed in Bulgaria, whose population has been heavily affected by the disease.

Keywords: African Swine Fever, Small-scale farmers, Indigenous breeds, East Balkan swine, biodiversity conservation, Biocultural Heritage, food sovereignty

Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lazzaro, Dimitrova, Doneva, Guardone, Cristalli, Crovato, Goracci, Bergmann, Menconi and Angeloni. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Vasco Menconi, vmenconi@izsvenezie.it

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material