December 11, 2025

 

Authorities in Spain explores link between ASF outbreak in Catalonia and potential leak from research site

 

 

Spanish authorities investigating the African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are looking into the possibility that the disease may have leaked from a research facility and are focusing on five nearby laboratories as potential sources.

 

Thirteen cases of ASF have been confirmed in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona since November 28, prompting Spain to scramble to contain the outbreak before it becomes a serious threat to its pork export industry.

 

The regional authorities initially believed the disease may have begun to circulate after a wild boar ate contaminated food that had been brought in from outside Spain, perhaps in the form of a meat sandwich discarded by a haulier.

 

But Spain's agriculture ministry has opened a new line of inquiry after concluding that the strain of the virus found in the dead boars in Catalonia was not the same as the one reported to be circulating in other EU member states. According to one report, the strain in question is instead similar to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

 

"The discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the possibility that its origin lies in a biological containment facility," the ministry said on December 5.

 

"The Georgia 2007 virus strain is a ‘reference' virus frequently used in experimental infections in containment facilities to study the virus or to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines, which are currently under development. The report suggests that the virus may not have originated in animals or animal products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present."

 

Catalonia's regional president, Salvador Illa, said on December 6 that he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of five facilities within 20 km (12 miles) of the outbreak site that work with the ASF virus.

 

"The regional government isn't ruling out any possibilities when it comes to the origin of the outbreak of African swine fever, but neither is it confirming any," he said. "All hypotheses remain open. First and foremost, we need to know what happened."

 

The agriculture ministry has confirmed 13 cases of the virus – all of them in dead wild boar found within 6 km of the initial focus. It has said the corpses of 37 more wild animals found in the zone had been analysed, and that all had tested negative for swine fever.

 

Experts dispatched to the 39 pig farms within a 20 km radius of the affected area have found no trace of the illness in animals there. More than 100 personnel from Spain's military emergencies unit have also been deployed to the area to work alongside police and wildlife rangers.

- The Guardian