Pig farmers must register their animals in April

Pig farmers have been told they must ‘register’ their animals with the DGAV (veterinary authority) next month, as a safeguard in the control against Aujeszky’s disease, also known as ‘pseudorabies’. The nastiest aspect of this virus is that it can transmit to other mammals (though not to humans). In pigs it is almost always deadly. In announcing that breeders must register their animals, the DGAV has warned of fines for non-compliance. The most curious point is that recently there have been a lot of warnings about the possibility of African Swine Fever affecting Portugal, but almost nothing about Aujeszky’s disease….