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National authorities investigating the recent African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are now considering the chance that the virus may have originated from a scientific laboratory. Their focus has shifted to several nearby labs as potential points of origin.

Outbreak Details and Economic Concerns

Thirteen infections of the fever have been confirmed in wild boars in the rural areas outside the Catalan capital since 28 November. This has prompted the country – the EU’s largest pork exporter – to rush to contain the outbreak before it escalates into a significant threat to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pig meat export sector.

Shifting Theories of Origin

At first, local officials suspected the outbreak may have begun after a wild boar ate contaminated food brought in from abroad – possibly a thrown away meat sandwich from a haulier.

However, the national ministry of agriculture has initiated a new investigation after concluding that the strain of the pathogen found in the dead animals in Catalonia is not the same as the one known to be present in other European countries. Investigative findings indicate the strain in question is rather similar to one detected in Georgia in the year 2007.

"The discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in that country does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its origin lies in a biological containment laboratory," stated the agriculture department.

Research Connection Explored

The 'Georgia-2007' virus strain is a 'standard' pathogen frequently used in scientific studies in containment facilities to research the disease or to test the effectiveness of vaccines, which are presently being developed. The analysis implies that the virus might not have originated in livestock or animal products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present.

Government Response and Review

In reaction, the regional president of Catalonia stated he had ordered the Catalan agrifood research institute to carry out an audit of five laboratories that handle the African swine fever virus within a 20-kilometer radius of the affected area.

"We are not excluding any possibilities when it comes to the origin of the outbreak of African swine fever, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory remain open. First and foremost, we need to understand the facts."

Current Control Measures

The agriculture ministry have reported 13 cases of the virus – all of them in dead wild boar located within six kilometers of the first detection site. They have said the corpses of an additional 37 animals found in the area have been tested, with all showing no infection for swine fever. Specialists dispatched to the 39 swine operations within the 20km radius have detected no trace of the illness there. More than one hundred personnel from the country's military emergencies unit have additionally been deployed to the region to assist law enforcement and forestry agents.

Global Context of African Swine Fever

Long native to Africa, African swine fever is harmless to people but often fatal to pigs. In the year 2018, the disease emerged in China, which is has about half of the global pigs. By the following year, there were fears that up to one hundred million pigs had been culled or died. Subsequently, the virus was confirmed to be in Germany, a country with one of the European Union's biggest pig farming industries.

Spain's Pivotal Position in Pork Exports

The nation, which is the EU’s biggest pork producer, exported pig meat products worth €5.1bn to other European nations in the previous year, and almost 3.7 billion euros of pork products to markets outside Europe. National statistics show that Spain slaughtered fifty-eight million swine in the year 2021 – an rise of forty percent from a decade earlier.