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National authorities probing the recent African swine fever incident in Catalonia are now exploring the chance that the disease could have originated from a scientific laboratory. Their focus has shifted to five local facilities as possible points of origin.

Confirmed Cases and Industry Concerns

A total of thirteen cases of the virus have been identified in feral pigs in the countryside outside Barcelona since 28 November. This has led the country – the EU’s biggest exporter of pig products – to scramble to control the outbreak before it escalates into a serious threat to the country's multi-billion euro pork export industry.

Evolving Investigative Focus

At first, regional authorities believed the disease may have begun after a boar consumed contaminated food brought in from abroad – perhaps a discarded food item from a haulier.

However, the Spanish agriculture ministry has initiated a different line of inquiry after determining that the variant of the virus detected in the deceased boars in the region is different from the one reported to be circulating in other EU member states. Investigative findings suggest the strain in question is instead similar to one detected in the country of Georgia in 2007.

"The discovery of a strain similar to the one that circulated in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the chance that its source lies in a biological containment laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' viral strain is a 'reference' pathogen frequently used in experimental infections in containment facilities to study the disease or to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, which are currently under development. The analysis implies that the virus might not have originated in livestock or meat products from any of the countries where the disease is currently active.

Government Actions and Review

In reaction, the regional president of Catalonia stated he had instructed the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of several laboratories that work with the ASF pathogen within a 20km radius of the outbreak site.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of African swine fever, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "All hypotheses remain open. First and foremost, we need to know what happened."

Current Control Measures

The agriculture ministry have reported 13 cases of the disease – all of them in dead feral pigs located within six kilometers of the first detection site. Officials added the corpses of 37 more wild animals found in the area have been analysed, with every one testing negative for swine fever. Experts sent to the 39 pig farms within the surrounding zone have found no sign of the illness on those farms. Over 100 personnel from the country's military emergencies unit have additionally been deployed to the region to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Global Background of African Swine Fever

For a long time native to Africa, ASF is not dangerous to people but frequently fatal to pigs. In 2018, the disease emerged in China, which is home to about half of the world’s pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as 100 million animals had been lost. Two years later, the pathogen was detected to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, a country with one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

Spain's Crucial Position in Meat Exports

The nation, which is the European Union's largest pork producer, exported pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other European nations in the previous year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to markets outside Europe. Official statistics show that the country processed fifty-eight million pigs in the year 2021 – an increase of 40% from a decade earlier.