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National authorities probing the recent African swine fever incident in Catalonia are now considering the chance that the virus may have originated from a research facility. Attention has narrowed to five local labs as potential sources.

Outbreak Details and Economic Stakes

A total of thirteen cases of the virus have been identified in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona beginning on 28 November. This has prompted the country – the European Union's largest exporter of pig products – to rush to control the situation before it escalates into a serious risk to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pig meat export industry.

Shifting Investigative Focus

At first, local authorities suspected the disease started after a wild boar consumed contaminated meat products imported from abroad – perhaps a thrown away meat sandwich from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has opened a different line of inquiry after determining that the variant of the virus detected in the dead animals in the region is different from the one reported to be present in other EU member states. Investigative findings suggest the strain in question is instead akin to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a strain like the one that circulated in that country does not, therefore, exclude the chance that its source is a high-security laboratory," said the ministry.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'reference' virus frequently used in scientific studies in secure labs to research the disease or to test the effectiveness of vaccines, which are currently being developed. The analysis implies that the virus might not have originated in livestock or meat products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present.

Government Actions and Review

In response, Salvador Illa stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an inspection of five facilities that handle the African swine fever pathogen within a 20km distance of the affected area.

"The regional government are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the outbreak of this disease, but nor are we confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory remain on the table. First and foremost, we need to understand the facts."

Latest Containment Measures

The authorities have reported thirteen infections of the disease – each one in deceased feral pigs located within 6km of the initial focus. They have said the corpses of 37 more wild animals discovered in the zone have been tested, with every one showing no infection for the virus. Specialists sent to the 39 swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no sign of the illness there. Over 100 members from the nation's emergency response forces have also been deployed to the area to work alongside law enforcement and wildlife rangers.

Global Background of ASF

Long native to Africa, African swine fever is not dangerous to people but often fatal to swine. In 2018, the disease emerged in China, which is has about half of the global pig population. By the following year, there were concerns that as many as 100 million animals had been lost. Subsequently, the pathogen was confirmed to be in Germany, a country with one of the EU’s biggest swine herds.

Spain's Pivotal Role in Meat Production

Spain, which is the European Union's biggest producer of pig meat, exported pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other European nations in the previous year, and nearly €3.7bn of pig-based goods to destinations outside Europe. Official data show that the country processed fifty-eight million swine in 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a ten years prior.