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Spanish police have raided a state-funded laboratory near Barcelona as part of an investigation into the origins of an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), amid concerns that the deadly animal disease has escaped from the facility. Genome sequencing has shown that this strain is similar to the strain used in research and vaccine development, which is different from other European cases.
African swine fever, although harmless to humans, is often fatal to pigs and wild boars and spreads rapidly. The outbreak poses a significant threat to Spain, Europe’s largest pork producer, accounting for about a quarter of EU production. Authorities have imposed restrictions on movement and are working to reassure trading partners.
The highly contagious virus was initially identified in two wild boars within the Collserola mountain range, just outside the Catalan capital.
Since then, seven additional pigs in the same area have been confirmed to be suffering from the disease, with Spanish authorities fearing further positive cases.
Spain stands as the EU’s leading pork producer, accounting for a quarter of the bloc’s production, with annual exports worth around €3.5 billion.
The search at the Center for Research in Animal Health (CRESA) was initiated by a local investigating judge on court orders, with preliminary proceedings declared secret. Cresa has not yet commented on the raid but previously told news verification website Maldita.es that it had found no evidence of it being the source of the outbreak.
This is the first outbreak in Spain since 1994. The virus has been found exclusively in wild animals in the Collserola hills outside Barcelona, and no cases have been recorded on farms. Authorities have discovered the virus in the carcasses of 26 wild boars within a six-kilometre confinement area, where Cressa is also located.
Although harmless to humans, ASF spreads rapidly among pigs and wild boars, although no commercial farms have been affected by it to date.
Catalan regional leader Salvador Illa said local authorities were already working to reduce wild boar populations due to public health concerns. However, he stressed that the recent outbreak underscores the urgent need to accelerate these efforts.
“There are a lot of wild boars out there,” Mr Illa told reporters earlier this month.
“We have activated and intensified this work, contacted all hunting associations and considered technically acceptable and proven ways to do this.”