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Spanish authorities probing the recent African swine fever outbreak in the northeastern region are now considering the chance that the disease could have originated from a research facility. Their focus has shifted to five local facilities as possible points of origin.

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 biggest pork exporter – to rush to contain the situation before it escalates into a serious threat to the country's multi-billion euro pork export sector.

Evolving Theories of Origin

Initially, regional authorities believed the disease started after a boar consumed contaminated meat products brought in from abroad – perhaps a discarded food item from a haulier.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has opened a different line of inquiry after determining that the variant of the pathogen found in the deceased boars in Catalonia is not the same as the one known to be circulating in other European countries. According to a report indicate the strain in question is rather akin to one found in the country of Georgia in 2007.

"The discovery of a virus like the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the chance that its source lies in a biological containment facility," stated the ministry.

Laboratory Connection Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' virus strain is a 'reference' pathogen commonly used in scientific studies in containment facilities to research the disease or to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, which are presently under development. The report suggests that the outbreak may not have started in livestock or meat products from any of the countries where the disease is currently present.

Government Actions and Review

In reaction, Salvador Illa stated he had ordered the regional research body to carry out an audit of several facilities that handle the African swine fever pathogen within a 20-kilometer radius of the outbreak site.

"We are not excluding any possibilities when it comes to the source of the outbreak of African swine fever, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "All hypotheses are open. First and foremost, we need to understand what happened."

Current Control Efforts

The agriculture ministry have reported thirteen infections of the disease – each one in deceased wild boar located within six kilometers of the first detection site. Officials added the corpses of 37 more animals found in the zone have been tested, with every one showing no infection for the virus. Experts dispatched to the thirty-nine pig farms within the 20km radius have detected no trace of the illness there. More than one hundred members from the country's military emergencies unit have also been sent to the region to work alongside law enforcement and wildlife rangers.

Global Context of African Swine Fever

For a long time native to Africa, ASF is not dangerous to people but frequently deadly to pigs. In 2018, the virus turned up in China, which is has about half of the global pig population. By 2019, there were fears that up to one hundred million animals had been lost. Subsequently, the pathogen was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

The Country's Crucial Position in Meat Production

Spain, which is the European Union's largest pork producer, sold pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries last year, and almost €3.7bn of pig-based goods to destinations outside Europe. Official data indicate that the country processed 58 million swine in the year 2021 – an rise of 40% from a decade earlier.