Pork industry at risk as swine fever hits farms across Eastern Europe

African Swine Fever has now been detected in farms in Eastern Europe and could become a serious threat to the pig industry throughout the whole of Europe.

Milltrust British Innovation Fund investee company Roslin Technologies have produced ground-breaking gene-edited pigs resistant to the deadly swine virus

Tests with the virus, called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), found the pigs did not become infected, while the change in their DNA had no other impact on their health. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute said PRRS is endemic in most pig-producing countries, with vaccines mostly failing to stop its spread. The virus, which causes breathing problems and deaths in young animals, is said to cost the farming industry around £1.75 billion each year in lost revenue in the US and Europe.