- Leszno County remains subject to ASF restrictions despite the declared absence of the virus in the environment for three years, as pointed out by the Greater Poland Chamber of Agriculture.
- During a broadcast, Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski contacted Chief Veterinary Officer Paweł Meyer to clarify why the zones remain in place.
- The CVO announced that an application for changes to the regionalization of southern Greater Poland, covering Leszno County, is to be submitted in November 2026
ASF and restriction zones. What about Leszno County?
During a live question-and-answer session, Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski received a question about maintaining ASF zones in Leszno County. A WIR representative wanted to know why the restrictions were not being lifted despite the declared absence of ASF cases in the environment for three years.
The minister admitted that he was unable to answer the question immediately and decided to contact the Chief Veterinary Officer, Paweł Meyer, directly. Participants in the livestream heard an explanation of the planned changes to regionalization.
“To date, we have been preparing an application at the General Veterinary Inspectorate for the southern part of Wielkopolska. This also includes Leszno County. We will submit this application in November of this year,” said Chief Veterinary Officer Paweł Meyer.
Why was the ASF zone not lifted earlier?
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that the obstacle was the occurrence of ASF cases in wild boars in other counties located not far from Leszno County.
- Based on the analyses we have been carrying out, essentially since the beginning of October, ASF outbreaks in wild boars have occurred in other counties, but not far from Leszno County. In accordance with the criteria governing the lifting of regionalisation in Member States, this prevented us from submitting an application earlier - Dr Meyer explained.
The CVO noted that decisions on changing zones do not take into account only the epidemiological situation within a single county. The presence of the virus in neighbouring areas and the criteria applicable to lifting restrictions are also significant.
ASF zone changes in 16 counties. Wielkopolska in the next application
Paweł Meyer also provided information about regionalisation changes being processed in other parts of the country.
- An application for five voivodeships is currently being processed in October, and zones will be changed in sixteen counties there, while the southern part of Wielkopolska and part of Lower Silesia as well. We will submit such an application in November of this year - the Chief Veterinary Officer announced.
Leszno County is therefore to be included in the application being prepared for the southern part of Wielkopolska. However, the announced submission of the document in November 2026 does not mean that restrictions will automatically be lifted. The final change to regionalisation will depend on how the procedure proceeds and whether the applicable criteria are met.
For pig farmers, the lifting of zones is economically significant, among other reasons because of the restrictions in force and the conditions for moving animals. The timing of regionalisation changes therefore remains an important issue for pig producers in this area.