SPAIN has been hit by its first outbreak of African swine fever in more than 30 years, triggering fears for the country’s multi-billion euro pork export market.
The virus was first detected when two wild boar were found dead near the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Bellaterra on November 26.
Lab tests confirmed it was African swine fever, the first detection on Spanish soil since 1994.
The situation escalated within hours after eight more boar carcasses were recovered in the Collserola mountains just north of Barcelona.
Dozens of additional dead animals are also being analysed as the containment zone expands.
Catalonia immediately undertook drastic measures, calling for help from the military emergency unit, which arrived with 117 personnel, drones, decontamination stations and boar-capture teams.
Collserola has been closed to the public and a six-kilometre exclusion zone is being searched using 300-metre grid squares.
The region’s agriculture minister, Oscar Ordeig, warned that ‘a high percentage of GDP’ is at stake if the export market is shut off.
So far the leading culprit for the outbreak, according to the Generalitat, is a discarded sandwich containing infected cured meat.
Officials believe the virus may have travelled in lorry traffic using nearby service areas from a motorway, before being eaten by a wild boar.
Authorities have blocked wildlife corridors with fencing and chemical deterrents to stop infected animals leaving the area.
All infected boar will die naturally, but surviving animals inside the perimeter will have to be culled to prevent spread.
There are 39 pig farms inside the six-kilometre radius and so far all remain free of the virus.
READ MORE: Wetherspoon’s global takeover starts at Alicante airport in Spain – Dilip Kuner gives his verdict
Despite this, export markets have already reacted negatively to the outbreak.
Spain has notified the European Union and the World Organisation for Animal Health, triggering mandatory Category A disease protocols.
The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered every region to double security on farms and transport routes to stop the infection getting into livestock.
Andalucia is watching the outbreak closely due to its high density of urbanised wild boar in towns such as Marbella, Mijas and Fuengirola.
Experts warn that concentrated boar populations feeding in rubbish bins would make any future containment effort far more difficult.
Authorities stress that the virus poses no risk to humans and does not spread through eating pork.
The focus now is preventing the disease from reaching commercial farms, where even a single case would shut Spain out of non-EU markets overnight.
Click here to read more Health News from The Olive Press.
