The original outbreak of the deadly disease, which is harmless to humans, has been traced to a Norfolk farm which supplied pigs to the two other farms. On Wednesday a Suffolk farm learnt it would have to slaughter 3,500 pigs after the disease was diagnosed. They are the first known case of the highly contagious disease in the UK for 14 years. Highly contagious Tests by Maff confirmed it was classic swine fever.
Swine fever is a highly infectious viral disease which is lethal to pigs but harmless to humans.
It can be transmitted directly from animal to animal and through feeding pigs waste food containing infected meat. It can also be passed on by transporting pigs in contaminated vehicles. The symptoms of swine fever in pigs are loss of appetite and high temperature. The pigs may also have red or purple areas of discoloration on the skin. Under EU law pigs on farms affected with classic swine fever must be destroyed.