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Spanish officials probing the recent African swine fever incident in the northeastern region are now considering the possibility that the virus could have originated from a research facility. Their focus has shifted to several local labs as potential points of origin.

Confirmed Cases and Industry Stakes

A total of thirteen infections of the virus have been identified in wild boars in the rural areas outside Barcelona beginning on 28 November. This has prompted the country – the European Union's largest pork exporter – to rush to contain the situation before it escalates into a serious threat to the country's €8.8bn-a-year pork export sector.

Shifting Investigative Focus

At first, regional authorities suspected the outbreak started after a boar ate infected food imported from outside Spain – perhaps a thrown away food item from a truck driver.

However, the national agriculture ministry has initiated a different investigation after concluding that the strain of the virus detected in the dead animals in the region is different from the one reported to be circulating in other EU member states. Investigative findings indicate the identified virus is rather similar to one found in Georgia in the year 2007.

"This finding of a strain like the one that was present in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the chance that its source is a biological containment laboratory," said the agriculture department.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'reference' pathogen frequently used in experimental infections in containment facilities to study the virus or to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, which are currently being developed. The analysis suggests that the outbreak might not have started in animals or meat products from any of the nations where the disease is currently active.

Government Response and Review

In reaction, the regional president of Catalonia stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to conduct an audit of five facilities that work with the ASF virus within a 20km radius of the affected area.

"We are not excluding any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of this disease, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "All hypotheses are on the table. First and foremost, we need to know the facts."

Latest Control Efforts

The authorities have confirmed thirteen infections of the disease – all of them in deceased wild boar located within 6km of the first detection site. They have said the corpses of 37 more animals found in the area have been analysed, with all showing no infection for the virus. Experts dispatched to the thirty-nine swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no trace of the illness on those farms. More than one hundred personnel from the country's emergency response forces have additionally been sent to the area to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Global Context of African Swine Fever

For a long time native to Africa, ASF is not dangerous to humans but frequently deadly to swine. In 2018, the virus emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is has about half of the world’s pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as 100 million pigs had been lost. Subsequently, the virus was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

Spain's Pivotal Role in Pork Production

Spain, which is the European Union's biggest pork producer, exported pig meat products worth €5.1bn to other European nations in the previous year, and nearly €3.7bn of pork products to destinations outside Europe. Official data show that the country processed fifty-eight million swine in the year 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a decade earlier.