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National officials probing the recent ASF outbreak in the northeastern region are now exploring the chance that the disease may have escaped from a scientific laboratory. Attention has narrowed to several local facilities as possible sources.

Confirmed Cases and Economic Stakes

A total of thirteen infections of the virus have been identified in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona beginning on 28 November. This has led Spain – the EU’s largest pork exporter – to scramble to contain the situation before it escalates into a serious risk to the nation's multi-billion euro pig meat export sector.

Evolving Investigative Focus

At first, regional authorities suspected the disease started after a boar consumed infected food brought in from abroad – possibly a thrown away food item from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has opened a new line of inquiry after determining that the strain of the virus found in the deceased boars in Catalonia is not the same as the one reported to be present in other European countries. Investigative findings indicate the identified virus is instead similar to one found in Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a strain like the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, exclude the chance that its source lies in a biological containment facility," said the ministry.

Laboratory Connection Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' viral strain is a 'reference' pathogen frequently employed in scientific studies in containment facilities to study the virus or to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines, which are currently under development. The report implies that the virus might not have originated in livestock or meat products from any of the countries where the disease is currently present.

Official Actions and Review

In response, the regional president of Catalonia announced he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to carry out an audit of five laboratories that handle the ASF virus within a 20-kilometer distance 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 are on the table. First and foremost, we need to understand the facts."

Current Control Efforts

The authorities have confirmed 13 cases of the virus – all of them in deceased wild boar located within 6km of the initial focus. Officials added the corpses of an additional 37 animals found in the zone have been tested, with all testing negative for the virus. Experts sent to the 39 pig farms within the 20km radius have detected no trace of the illness on those farms. More than 100 personnel from the nation's military emergencies unit have also been deployed to the area to assist law enforcement and wildlife rangers.

Worldwide Background of African Swine Fever

For a long time endemic to the African continent, African swine fever is harmless to humans but often fatal to pigs. In 2018, the virus turned up in China, which is has about half of the world’s pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that up to one hundred million pigs had been lost. Subsequently, the pathogen was detected to be in Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

Spain's Crucial Role in Pork Exports

Spain, which is the European Union's largest producer of pig meat, exported pork products worth €5.1bn to other EU countries last year, and almost €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside Europe. Official statistics show that Spain slaughtered 58 million swine in 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a ten years prior.