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Spanish authorities probing the recent African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are now exploring the possibility that the disease may have originated from a research facility. Attention has narrowed to five nearby labs as possible points of origin.

Confirmed Cases and Industry Stakes

A total of thirteen infections of the virus have been confirmed in feral pigs in the rural areas outside the Catalan capital beginning on 28 November. This has led Spain – the EU’s largest pork exporter – to scramble to control the situation before it escalates into a serious threat to the country's multi-billion euro pig meat export sector.

Evolving Investigative Focus

Initially, local authorities suspected the outbreak may have begun after a boar ate contaminated meat products brought in from outside Spain – perhaps a discarded food item from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish ministry of agriculture has opened a different investigation after concluding that the variant of the virus detected in the deceased boars in Catalonia is not the same as the one reported to be present in other European countries. According to a report indicate the identified virus is instead akin to one detected in the country of Georgia in the year 2007.

"This finding of a strain like the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the possibility that its source is a high-security laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Research Link Examined

The 'Georgia-2007' viral strain is a 'reference' virus commonly employed in experimental infections in secure labs to study the disease or to test the efficacy of treatments, which are currently being developed. The report implies that the virus might not have started in animals or animal products from any of the countries where the disease is currently present.

Official Response and Review

In reaction, Salvador Illa stated he had instructed the regional research body to carry out an audit of several laboratories that handle the ASF pathogen within a 20km distance of the outbreak site.

"We isn’t ruling out any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of this disease, but nor are we confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory remain on the table. Above all, we need to know the facts."

Current Control Measures

The agriculture ministry have reported 13 cases of the virus – each one in dead feral pigs found within six kilometers of the first detection site. They have said the corpses of an additional 37 wild animals found in the zone have been analysed, with all showing no infection for swine fever. Specialists dispatched to the thirty-nine swine operations within the surrounding zone have found no sign of the illness on those farms. Over 100 members from the nation's emergency response forces have additionally been sent to the area to work alongside police officers and forestry agents.

Global Context of African Swine Fever

Long endemic to Africa, African swine fever is not dangerous to people but frequently deadly to swine. In the year 2018, the disease emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is home to about 50% of the global pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as one hundred million pigs had been lost. Subsequently, the pathogen was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, a country with one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

Spain's Pivotal Position in Meat Production

Spain, which is the European Union's largest pork producer, sold pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries last year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside the bloc. National data show that Spain processed 58 million swine in 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a decade earlier.