🔗 Share this article

Spanish officials probing the recent African swine fever incident in the northeastern region are now exploring the possibility that the disease could have escaped from a scientific laboratory. Attention has narrowed to several nearby facilities as potential sources.

Outbreak Details and Economic Concerns

Thirteen cases of the fever have been identified in wild boars in the rural areas outside the Catalan capital since 28 November. This has prompted the country – the EU’s largest pork exporter – to rush to contain the outbreak before it escalates into a serious risk to the country's multi-billion euro pork export sector.

Evolving Theories of Origin

At first, local officials suspected the outbreak may have begun after a wild boar ate contaminated food imported from abroad – perhaps a thrown away meat sandwich from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has opened a different investigation after concluding that the strain of the virus detected in the dead boars in Catalonia is different from the one known to be present in other European countries. Investigative findings indicate the strain in question is instead akin to one found in Georgia in the year 2007.

"The discovery of a strain like the one that was present in that country does not, therefore, rule out the chance that its source is a high-security facility," said the agriculture department.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' viral strain is a 'standard' virus commonly employed in scientific studies in containment facilities to research the virus or to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, which are currently under development. The analysis implies that the virus might not have originated in livestock or meat products from any of the nations where the disease is currently active.

Official Actions and Review

In response, Salvador Illa stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to carry out an inspection of five facilities that work with the African swine fever virus within a 20-kilometer radius of the outbreak site.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of African swine fever, but nor are we confirming any," he said. "All hypotheses remain open. Above all, we need to know what happened."

Latest Containment Efforts

The agriculture ministry have reported thirteen infections of the disease – each one in dead wild boar found within 6km of the initial focus. Officials added the corpses of an additional 37 animals discovered in the area have been analysed, with every one showing no infection for swine fever. Specialists dispatched to the thirty-nine pig farms within the 20km radius have detected no sign of the illness on those farms. Over 100 personnel from the country's emergency response forces have also been sent to the region to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Worldwide Background of African Swine Fever

Long endemic to the African continent, ASF is not dangerous to people but often fatal to swine. In 2018, the virus emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is home to about half of the global pigs. By the following year, there were fears that as many as one hundred million pigs had been lost. Subsequently, the virus was detected to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, home to one of the EU’s biggest pig farming industries.

Spain's Pivotal Position in Meat Exports

Spain, which is the EU’s biggest producer of pig meat, sold pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries last year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to markets outside Europe. National statistics indicate that Spain slaughtered 58 million pigs in the year 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a ten years prior.