OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2014. The European Union is prepared to compensate the Baltics and Poland up to 75 percent of the money spent on swine fever prevention and control, said Agriculture Minister Ivari Padar after the meetings o the EU's Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

"The Baltics and Poland have put together a joint package of actions on how to keep African swine fever under control and keep it from spreading. Pig farms in Estonia, where the disease has not been found, would face heavy losses if the disease spread extensively. So the EU's message was very supportive for us."

He said support for compensation was broad across EU members.

Instead of 50 percent, compensation for prevention and control was upped to 75 percent.

If swine fever reached a farm where all pigs would have to be destroyed, farmers would get 100 percent of the destroyed animals and feed reimbursed from the state, of which the European Commission would pay for 75 percent.

Swine fever has now been diagnosed in the remains of 21 wild boars.