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Spanish officials investigating the ongoing African swine fever incident in Catalonia are now considering the chance that the disease may have originated from a scientific laboratory. Their focus has shifted to five local labs as possible points of origin.

Outbreak Details and Industry Concerns

A total of thirteen cases of the virus have been identified in feral pigs in the rural areas outside Barcelona since 28 November. This has led Spain – the European Union's largest exporter of pig products – to rush to control the outbreak before it becomes a significant threat to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pork export sector.

Evolving Investigative Focus

At first, local officials suspected the disease may have begun after a boar consumed contaminated meat products imported from abroad – possibly a discarded food item from a truck driver.

However, the national agriculture ministry has initiated a new line of inquiry after concluding that the strain of the pathogen found in the deceased boars in Catalonia is not the same as the one reported to be present in other European countries. According to a report indicate the strain in question is rather akin to one detected in Georgia in 2007.

"This finding of a virus like the one that was present in Georgia does not, therefore, rule out the possibility that its source lies in a high-security laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Laboratory Link Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'reference' pathogen commonly used in scientific studies in secure labs to research the virus or to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, which are currently being developed. The analysis suggests that the virus might not have started in animals or animal products from any of the nations where the infection is currently active.

Government Actions and Audit

In response, Salvador Illa stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to carry out an inspection of several laboratories that handle the African swine fever virus within a 20-kilometer distance of the affected area.

"The regional government isn’t ruling out any scenarios when it comes to the source of the incident of this disease, but nor are we confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory are on the table. First and foremost, we need to know the facts."

Current Control Efforts

The agriculture ministry have confirmed thirteen infections of the virus – each one in dead feral pigs located within 6km of the initial focus. Officials added the remains of 37 more wild animals discovered in the zone have been analysed, with all showing no infection for swine fever. Experts sent to the thirty-nine swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no trace of the disease on those farms. Over 100 members from the country's military emergencies unit have additionally been sent to the area to work alongside law enforcement and wildlife rangers.

Worldwide Background of African Swine Fever

For a long time native to the African continent, African swine fever is not dangerous to humans but often deadly to pigs. In the year 2018, the disease emerged in the People's Republic of China, which is home to about 50% of the global pig population. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as 100 million pigs had been lost. Two years later, the virus was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest pig farming industries.

The Country's Crucial Position in Pork Production

The nation, which is the European Union's biggest producer of pig meat, 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 markets outside the bloc. Official statistics show that Spain processed fifty-eight million swine in the year 2021 – an rise of 40% from a ten years prior.