ROME — The discovery of African swine fever in northern Italy has Italian pork producers fearing significant economic damage to a major agricultural export and has forced curtailing of the official seasons to hunt for game and to gather prized truffles.
To limit the opportunities for contact with possibly other infected wild boars, parts of those two regions have been declared off-limits to bikers and hikers, and for fishing and hunting for game. Also not allowed is gathering truffles. Mushroom gathering is also banned through the next few months. Gathering of some black truffles must be completed by November or December, depending on the kind, but other kinds of black truffles would normally still be gathered through the rest of winter.
Italy’s exports of pork and pork products amount to 1.5 billion euros annually, with about one-third of that coming from sales outside the European Union.