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National officials probing the ongoing ASF outbreak in the northeastern region are now considering the possibility that the disease could have originated from a scientific laboratory. Their focus has shifted to several local facilities as potential sources.

Outbreak Details and Economic Stakes

Thirteen infections of the virus have been identified in feral pigs in the countryside outside the Catalan capital beginning on 28 November. This has prompted the country – the European Union's biggest exporter of pig products – to scramble to control the outbreak before it becomes a significant threat to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pork export industry.

Shifting Theories of Origin

Initially, regional authorities believed the outbreak may have begun after a wild boar ate contaminated meat products brought in from outside Spain – possibly a thrown away meat sandwich from a haulier.

However, the Spanish ministry of agriculture has initiated a new investigation after determining that the strain of the virus detected in the deceased boars in the region is not the same as the one known to be circulating in other European countries. Investigative findings indicate the strain in question is rather similar to one found in Georgia in the year 2007.

"This finding of a virus similar to the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the possibility that its source lies in a biological containment facility," stated the ministry.

Research Connection Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' viral strain is a 'standard' virus frequently employed in scientific studies in secure labs to study the disease or to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines, which are presently being developed. The report suggests that the outbreak may not have started in livestock or animal products from any of the countries where the disease is currently present.

Government Response and Audit

In response, the regional president of Catalonia stated he had instructed the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of five facilities that handle 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 incident of African swine fever, but neither is it confirming any," he said. "All hypotheses are open. Above all, we need to know the facts."

Latest Containment Measures

The agriculture ministry have confirmed thirteen infections of the disease – each one in dead feral pigs found within 6km of the initial focus. They have said the remains of an additional 37 animals found in the zone have been tested, with all showing no infection for swine fever. Specialists dispatched to the thirty-nine swine operations within the surrounding zone have detected no trace of the disease there. More than 100 members from the nation's emergency response forces have additionally been deployed to the region to assist police officers and forestry agents.

Global Background of African Swine Fever

For a long time endemic to Africa, African swine fever is harmless to people but frequently fatal to swine. In 2018, the disease emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is has about half of the world’s pig population. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as one hundred million pigs had been culled or died. Two years later, the pathogen was confirmed to be in Germany, a country with one of the EU’s biggest swine herds.

The Country's Crucial Role in Pork Production

The nation, which is the European Union's biggest pork producer, sold pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other EU countries in the previous year, and almost 3.7 billion euros of pork products to destinations outside Europe. National data show that Spain processed fifty-eight million swine in 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a ten years prior.