🔗 Share this article

Spanish authorities probing the ongoing African swine fever outbreak in the northeastern region are now considering the chance that the virus may have originated from a research facility. Attention has narrowed to five local labs as potential sources.

Confirmed Cases and Industry Stakes

Thirteen cases of the fever have been identified in feral pigs in the rural areas outside the Catalan capital beginning on 28 November. This has prompted Spain – the European Union's biggest exporter of pig products – to rush to control the outbreak before it escalates into a significant risk to the country's multi-billion euro pork export sector.

Shifting Theories of Origin

Initially, regional officials believed the outbreak may have begun after a boar ate contaminated meat products imported from abroad – possibly a discarded meat sandwich from a haulier.

However, the national agriculture ministry has opened a new investigation after concluding that the strain of the virus found in the deceased animals in the region is different from the one known to be present in other EU member states. According to a report suggest the strain in question is instead akin to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a virus like the one that was present in that country does not, therefore, exclude the chance that its source lies in a biological containment laboratory," stated the ministry.

Research Connection Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' viral strain is a 'standard' pathogen frequently used in experimental infections in containment facilities to research the disease or to test the effectiveness of treatments, which are presently under development. The analysis suggests that the outbreak may not have started in livestock or meat products from any of the nations where the disease is currently active.

Official Response and Review

In response, Salvador Illa announced he had instructed the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of five laboratories that work with the ASF virus within a 20-kilometer distance of the outbreak site.

"We isn’t ruling out 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 on the table. First and foremost, we need to understand the facts."

Latest Containment Measures

The authorities have reported thirteen infections of the virus – all of them in deceased wild boar located within six kilometers of the first detection site. They have said the corpses of an additional 37 animals found in the zone have been tested, with every one showing no infection for swine fever. Specialists sent to the 39 swine operations within the 20km radius have found no trace of the disease there. Over 100 personnel from the country's military emergencies unit have also been sent to the region to assist police officers and forestry agents.

Global Background of ASF

Long native to the African continent, African swine fever is harmless to humans but often deadly to pigs. In the year 2018, the virus emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is has about 50% of the world’s pig population. By the following year, there were fears that up to one hundred million pigs had been lost. Two years later, the pathogen was detected to be in Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest pig farming industries.

The Country's Crucial Role in Meat Exports

Spain, which is the European Union's biggest pork producer, exported pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries last year, and almost €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside the bloc. Official statistics show that the country slaughtered fifty-eight million pigs in the year 2021 – an increase of forty percent from a ten years prior.