42-mile fence on border with Germany aims to protect pig farms
from African swine fever
Emily Schultheisin Berlin
Mon 28 Jan 2019 11.56 GMTLast modified on Tue 29 Jan
2019 17.41 GMT
The United States isn’t the only country with a border wall
controversy these days. However, Denmark’s planned 42-mile (70km) fence along
the German border is intended to keep out not people but wild boars, which
authorities say threaten to bring disease to Danish pig farms.
Construction on the fence was beginning on Monday along the
northern edge of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Danish lawmakers and
the country’s environmental agency approved the project last summer, arguing it
would help farmers protect their pigs against African swine fever (ASF).
The disease, lethal for pigs, has not yet been spotted in Denmark
or Germany but it is common in eastern Europe and there was a
small outbreak in Belgium last autumn.
Though the threat of ASF may not sound alarming on its face, pigs
and pork production are no joke in Denmark.
The country has nearly twice as many pigs as people – it’s home to more than 12
million pigs across 3,000 farms, compared with a human population of just under
6 million – and pig exports account for billions of pounds annually.
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