Pig farmer Alberto Cavagnini has slaughtered 1,600 of his hogs due to swine fever, a virus threatening the 20-billion-euro pork industry in Italy, including its world-famous prosciutto.
The disease, which is fatal for pigs and disastrous for the economy, has particularly affected the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria—and its spread is spooking neighbor France.
Italy recorded cases of the virus in just under 25,000 pigs in 50 farms, and in nearly 2,500 wild boars, between January 2022 and September this year, official figures show.
Cavagnini is lucky: the breeder from Brescia in northern Italy owns several farms, softening the blow from the cull, "but many breeders only have one farm", so lose all their livestock, he told AFP.
In 2024 alone, between 50,000 and 60,000 pigs were slaughtered across Italy.
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