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Spanish authorities probing the recent African swine fever outbreak in the northeastern region are now considering the possibility that the virus could have escaped from a research facility. Attention has narrowed to several nearby facilities as possible points of origin.

Confirmed Cases and Industry Stakes

Thirteen cases of the fever have been identified in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona since 28 November. This has led Spain – the EU’s biggest pork exporter – to scramble to contain the outbreak before it escalates into a significant risk to the country's multi-billion euro pig meat export sector.

Evolving Theories of Origin

At first, local officials believed the disease may have begun after a wild boar ate infected food brought in from outside Spain – possibly a discarded food item from a haulier.

However, the national ministry of agriculture has opened a new line of inquiry after determining that the variant of the virus detected in the dead boars in Catalonia is not the same as the one reported to be present in other EU member states. Investigative findings suggest the identified virus is instead akin to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a virus like the one that was present in that country does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its origin is a high-security laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Laboratory Connection Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' viral strain is a 'standard' virus frequently used in experimental infections in secure labs to study the disease or to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines, which are currently being developed. The report implies that the outbreak may not have originated in animals or animal products from any of the nations where the disease is currently active.

Government Actions and Review

In response, the regional president of Catalonia announced he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to carry out an audit of five facilities that work with the ASF virus within a 20km radius of the outbreak site.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the source of the incident of this disease, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "All hypotheses remain on the table. Above all, we need to understand the facts."

Current Containment Efforts

The authorities have confirmed 13 cases of the disease – all of them in dead wild boar located within 6km of the initial focus. Officials added the remains of 37 more animals discovered in the zone have been analysed, with all showing no infection for the virus. Experts sent to the 39 pig farms within the surrounding zone have found no sign of the disease there. Over one hundred members from the country's emergency response forces have additionally been sent to the region to work alongside police officers and wildlife rangers.

Worldwide Background of African Swine Fever

For a long time endemic to the African continent, African swine fever is harmless to people but often deadly to pigs. In the year 2018, the disease emerged in China, which is home to about half of the world’s pigs. By the following year, there were fears that up to 100 million pigs had been culled or died. Two years later, the pathogen was confirmed to be in Germany, home to one of the EU’s biggest pig farming industries.

The Country's Crucial Position in Meat Production

Spain, which is the EU’s biggest pork producer, sold pork products worth €5.1bn to other EU countries last year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside Europe. Official statistics indicate that the country slaughtered 58 million pigs in 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a decade earlier.