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National officials investigating the recent African swine fever incident in the northeastern region are now considering the possibility that the disease could have originated from a research facility. Their focus has shifted to five local facilities as potential points of origin.

Outbreak Details and Economic Concerns

A total of thirteen cases of the fever have been identified in feral pigs in the rural areas outside the Catalan capital since 28 November. This has prompted the country – the European Union's biggest pork exporter – to rush to contain the situation before it escalates into a serious threat to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pork export sector.

Shifting Investigative Focus

At first, local officials believed the disease started after a wild boar ate infected food brought in from abroad – perhaps a discarded food item from a haulier.

However, the national agriculture ministry has opened a different investigation after determining that the strain of the virus found in the dead boars in the region is not the same as the one known to be circulating in other European countries. Investigative findings suggest the identified virus is rather similar to one found in Georgia in the year 2007.

"This finding of a virus similar to the one that was present in Georgia does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its origin lies in a biological containment laboratory," said the agriculture department.

Laboratory Connection Examined

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'reference' pathogen frequently used in scientific studies in secure labs to research the virus or to evaluate the efficacy of treatments, which are presently under development. The report suggests that the outbreak may not have originated in animals or animal products from any of the nations where the infection is currently present.

Government Response and Audit

In reaction, Salvador Illa stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an inspection of several laboratories that work with the African swine fever pathogen within a 20km distance of the outbreak site.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the source of the outbreak of this disease, but nor are we confirming any," he said. "All hypotheses remain on the table. First and foremost, we need to know what happened."

Current Control Efforts

The agriculture ministry have confirmed 13 cases of the virus – all of them in dead wild boar located within six kilometers of the first detection site. They have said the remains of 37 more wild animals found in the area have been analysed, with all testing negative for the virus. Experts dispatched to the thirty-nine swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no sign of the illness on those farms. More than one hundred personnel from the country's military emergencies unit have additionally been deployed to the region to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Worldwide Background of ASF

Long endemic to Africa, ASF is not dangerous to people but often deadly to swine. In the year 2018, the disease emerged in China, which is has about 50% of the world’s pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as 100 million pigs had been lost. Two years later, the virus was detected to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, a country with one of the EU’s largest pig farming industries.

The Country's Crucial Position in Meat Production

Spain, which is the European Union's biggest pork producer, exported pork products worth 5.1 billion euros to other European nations in the previous year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside the bloc. National data indicate that the country processed fifty-eight million swine in the year 2021 – an rise of 40% from a decade earlier.