Swine fever in Boekel

On February 4, 1997, exactly one month after the last Elfstedentocht and 5 days before Carnival, swine fever was detected on a farm in Boekel, Venhorst. Just as corona is referred to as “patient-zero,” this farm was “company-zero,” so to speak. As it turned out later, there were many more infections by then. And as with corona, the crisis was greater and the swine fever lasted much longer than everyone initially thought.
Together with three people involved at the time: the town clerk, a veterinarian and a pig farmer, we look back on the events that suddenly landed Boekel on the front pages of the national newspapers. Everyone who was there at the time will have their own story. We hope that the three personal stories in this article will prompt others not yet told to tell their stories as well.