🔗 Share this article

Spanish authorities investigating the recent African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are now exploring the possibility that the disease may have originated from a scientific laboratory. Attention has narrowed to several local facilities as possible sources.

Confirmed Cases and Economic Stakes

A total of thirteen cases of the virus have been identified in wild boars in the rural areas outside Barcelona since 28 November. This has led Spain – the EU’s biggest pork exporter – to rush to contain the outbreak before it becomes a serious risk to the nation's multi-billion euro pig meat export sector.

Evolving Theories of Origin

At first, local authorities believed the disease may have begun after a wild boar consumed infected meat products imported from abroad – possibly a discarded food item from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has initiated a different investigation after concluding that the variant of the virus found in the dead animals in Catalonia is not the same as the one reported to be circulating in other European countries. Investigative findings suggest the identified virus is rather similar to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

"The discovery of a strain like the one that was present in that country does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its source is a high-security laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Laboratory Connection Examined

The 'Georgia 2007' viral strain is a 'standard' pathogen frequently employed in experimental infections in containment facilities to study the virus or to test the efficacy of vaccines, which are presently being developed. The report suggests that the outbreak might not have originated in animals or meat products from any of the nations where the disease is currently present.

Official Response and Review

In reaction, Salvador Illa announced he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of five facilities that handle the African swine fever pathogen within a 20-kilometer radius of the affected area.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of this disease, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory remain open. First and foremost, we need to know what happened."

Latest Control Measures

The authorities have confirmed 13 cases of the disease – all of them in deceased wild boar located within 6km of the initial focus. Officials added the corpses of 37 more animals found in the zone have been tested, with all testing negative for the virus. Experts sent to the thirty-nine pig farms within the surrounding zone have found no sign of the disease on those farms. Over 100 members from the country's emergency response forces have also been sent to the area to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Worldwide Context of ASF

Long native to the African continent, African swine fever is harmless to humans but often fatal to swine. In 2018, the virus turned up in the People's Republic of China, which is home to about half of the world’s pigs. By 2019, there were fears that up to 100 million animals had been lost. Two years later, the virus was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, a country with one of the EU’s largest pig farming industries.

The Country's Pivotal Role in Meat Exports

The nation, which is the EU’s biggest pork producer, sold pork products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries in the previous year, and nearly 3.7 billion euros of pig-based goods to markets outside the bloc. Official data show that the country slaughtered 58 million swine in the year 2021 – an increase of forty percent from a decade earlier.