A LABORATORY in northern Spain was experimenting with African swine fever just days before a severe outbreak of the disease triggered a region-wide crisis across Catalunya.
Catalunya’s Research Centre on Animal Health (CReSA), in Bellaterra north of Barcelona, had scheduled two experiments involving separate strains of African swine fever (ASF) for late November – the same period in which the first infected wild boar appeared only metres away from the laboratory, a report from Spain’s National Biosafety Commission said.
Authorities have confirmed a total of 13 cases to date, all in dead wild boars found near the CReSA. Roughly 90 municipalities across Catalunya have been placed under quarantine, and more than 40 countries have imposed bans on Spanish pork imports.
Leon-based farmers’ association ASAJA said in a statement: “[Catalunya] will never admit the ASF virus that infected wild boars escaped from one of its labs. It would face incalculable liability claims today.”
Investigators last week flagged the CReSA as a possible source of the outbreak after scrapping an earlier hypothesis involving a discarded pork sandwich as a potential carrier of the virus.
They added the current ASF strain is strikingly similar to one that decimated the swine population in Georgia in 2007.
Scientists at CReSA had been preparing to test a new vaccine involving modified versions of the Georgia strain on 35 boars in late November, the Commission’s report said.
The laboratory was criticised in recent months for its lax security measures, including the lack of a double fence around its perimeter, and the fact it had been undergoing refurbishment works since September – at the same time as it was experimenting with ASF vaccines.
The virus is lethal for pigs and boars, but harmless for humans.
More than 100 troops have been deployed across Catalunya’s quarantine zone alongside wildlife rangers and police, combing through the area for infected animals.
Authorities have said that more than 30,000 wild boars may need to be culled to halt the spread of the disease.
Spain’s Ministry of agriculture warned that an outbreak amongst domestic herds used to produce pork would be disastrous for the industry.
Spain is the third-largest exporter of pork in the world, with an industry worth just shy of €9 billion a year.
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