African swine fever – a viral infection that causes the animals to bleed internally – is sweeping a rustic that has more pigs than people.
No less than 13 wild boars have tested positive for the virus in fields outside Barcelona, in Spain’s northeast Catalonia region, since November.
The highly contagious illness, which is just not fatal to humans but might be spread by us, has no known vaccine or cure.
What’s behind the outbreak of the virus in Cerdanyola del Vallés is unclear, but officials are considering whether it leaked from a laboratory.
Officials initially suspected it was brought on by a boar eating infected pork, similar to a half-eaten pork sandwich tossed aside by a trucker.
Should the UK be anxious about African swine fever?
Many in Spain, certainly one of Europe’s largest pork producers, are keen to avoid a repeat of a 2018 outbreak in China that decimated pig herds.
The disease worn out roughly one-quarter of the world’s pigs, or 220 million, based on Rabobank, an agricultural-focused bank.
Just two years later, the virus was confirmed in Germany, home to certainly one of Europe’s largest swine herds.
Could a rogue pork sandwich left on the side of the road also cause an outbreak of swine fever within the UK?
Greater than 4.7 million pigs call British farms home, with thousands and thousands slaughtered yearly.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed to Metro that African swine fever has not been reported within the UK.
And it is going to unlikely make the hop over the English Channel anytime soon, with environmental officials working closely with port authorities to watch pork imports.
Defra said: ‘We take the specter of animal diseases extremely seriously and our commitment to maintaining the country’s biosecurity is unwavering.
‘Following an outbreak of African Swine Fever in Spain, all fresh pork and other impacted products from the region affected are restricted. Exports from disease-free areas of Spain can proceed as normal.
‘We are going to proceed to watch the situation and keep all measures under review.’
What’s the reason behind the outbreak in Spain?
Agriculture officials say the strain of African swine fever within the boars is analogous to 1 first detected in Georgia in 2007.
The ministry said on Friday that the strains being similar ‘doesn’t rule out the chance that their origin may lie in a biological containment facility’.
Catalonia’s top agriculture official, Oscar Ordei, said an investigation has been launched into the Centre for Research in Animal Health (Cresa).
Cresa is just 1km away from where the dead infected boars were found.
A spokesperson told the fact-checker Maldita.es that it has found ‘no evidence’ the virus leapt out of its lab.
Veterinary authorities found no traces of African swine fever at any of the 39 pig farms positioned inside a 20km infected zone.
But with no known cure, pork dealers and butchers are calling for the some 30,000 pigs in the realm to be culled.
Spain has deployed greater than 100 army troops to assist wildlife rangers curb the spread, while hunters have begun to comb the zone.
The country’s pork market is value around €8.8 billion (about £7.7 million) a yr.
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