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National officials investigating the recent ASF outbreak in the northeastern region are now exploring the possibility that the disease could have originated from a research facility. Their focus has shifted to five nearby facilities as potential points of origin.

Confirmed Cases and Economic Stakes

A total of thirteen cases of the fever have been confirmed in feral pigs in the rural areas outside Barcelona beginning on 28 November. This has prompted Spain – the EU’s biggest pork exporter – to scramble to contain the outbreak before it becomes a serious threat to the nation's multi-billion euro pig meat export sector.

Shifting Investigative Focus

Initially, local officials believed the disease may have begun after a wild boar ate infected meat products imported from abroad – perhaps a discarded food item from a truck driver.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has opened a different investigation after concluding that the strain of the virus detected in the deceased boars in the region is different from the one reported to be present in other EU member states. According to a report indicate the strain in question is instead similar to one found in the country of Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a virus like the one that was present in Georgia does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its source is a high-security laboratory," said the ministry.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'reference' virus frequently employed in scientific studies in secure labs to research the disease or to evaluate the efficacy of treatments, which are currently under development. The report suggests that the outbreak might not have originated in livestock or meat products from any of the countries where the disease is currently present.

Government Response and Audit

In reaction, Salvador Illa stated he had instructed the regional research body to conduct an inspection of several laboratories that handle the ASF pathogen within a 20-kilometer distance of the outbreak site.

"We isn’t ruling out any scenarios when it comes to the source of the outbreak of African swine fever, but nor are we confirming any," he said. "Every theory remain open. First and foremost, we need to know what happened."

Current Containment Measures

The authorities have reported thirteen infections of the disease – each one in deceased feral pigs found within six kilometers of the initial focus. They have said the corpses of an additional 37 wild animals found in the zone have been analysed, with every one showing no infection for the virus. Specialists dispatched to the thirty-nine swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no sign of the illness there. Over one hundred members from the nation's emergency response forces have additionally been deployed to the area to work alongside police officers and wildlife rangers.

Global Background of African Swine Fever

Long native to Africa, ASF is harmless to humans but frequently fatal to swine. In 2018, the disease turned up in China, which is has about half of the global pigs. By the following year, there were fears that up to one hundred million pigs had been lost. Subsequently, the virus was detected to be in Germany, a country with one of the EU’s largest pig farming industries.

The Country's Pivotal Role in Meat Production

Spain, which is the EU’s biggest producer of pig meat, sold pork products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries in the previous year, and almost €3.7bn of pork products to markets outside Europe. Official data show that the country processed 58 million swine in 2021 – an rise of 40% from a decade earlier.