Spain: 2025 African Swine Fever

[Shiloh]

Source: https://news.err.ee/1609768641/culli...-protest-delay

Culling of 4,500 pigs at Viljandi County farm going ahead after protest delay
News
ERR
today at 06.13


After a postponement prompted by protests on Friday and Saturday, nearly 4,500 pigs at a Viljandi County farm will be culled after all, as a reference laboratory in Spain confirmed African swine fever (ASF) at the farm, Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Terras announced Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Terras said that the results received from Spain (link to PDF) regarding the pigs at Nurme Farm were clear.

"I can confirm the fact that the reference laboratory results are positive," he said, adding that, with the final and internationally confirmed evidence in hand, the farm's 4,500 pigs will be culled...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://farmtario.com/daily/spain-re...orts-to-china/


Spain reports first swine fever case in three decades, jeopardizing exports to China
By Gus Trompiz, Jesus Calero
Reuters
Published: 4 hours ago

Madrid | Reuters — African swine fever has returned to Spain for the first time in three decades after two wild boar found dead near Barcelona tested positive for the virus, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday, putting growing pork exports to China at risk of a ban.

The outbreak, the first since 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/hea...ge-2025-11-30/

Eight more suspected swine fever cases as Spain struggles to limit export damage
By Reuters
November 30, 20259:12 AM ESTUpdated 4 hours ago

MADRID, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Eight more wild boar with suspected cases of African swine fever were discovered near Barcelona, La Vanguardia newspaper reported on Sunday, as Spain struggles to limit the damage to a pork export industry worth billions of euros a year.
The newspaper cited sources close to the Catalan agriculture ministry. Two cases have been confirmed, and 12 others have shown signs they may also have the disease but are undergoing tests to confirm this. If confirmed, it would bring the number of infected animals to 14...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.devdiscourse.com/article...-pork-industry

Spain's Race Against Swine Fever: Boar Patrols to Protect Pork Industry
Spanish authorities are urgently working to identify and isolate wild boars potentially infected with African swine fever to protect the country's valuable pork industry. Using advanced technology and police forces, they aim to prevent the highly contagious disease from spreading into domestic herds, maintaining strict control measures on farms.
Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 01-12-2025 21:58 IST | Created: 01-12-2025 21:58 IST

In a bid to safeguard Spain's lucrative pork industry, police, soldiers, and park rangers are actively tracking wild boars potentially infected with African swine fever. The aggressive approach includes utilizing drones, infra-red tech, and sniffer dogs to locate carcasses while sealing off potential cross-contamination routes under highways and pipeworks.

Barriers have sprung up around Barcelona's Collserola mountain range, a popular recreational spot, where visitors are deterred and residents instructed to report sightings. Reinforced measures are in play at local farms following Interporc guidelines, encompassing robust testing protocols, perimeter defenses, and stringent hygiene practices to stave off the virus's encroachment...

[Pathfinder]

/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia
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Translation Google

African swine fever in Catalonia: the epidemic is growing... Seven new cases confirmed by authorities near Barcelona

Published on 02/12/2025 at 17:32
Loïs Dzouz

In the coming days, the government must define a series of exceptional measures to strengthen biosecurity on all Catalan farms and reduce the wild boar population.

Seven more wild boars have died from African swine fever near Barcelona, in the area where the viral disease was first detected in Catalonia, bringing the total number of cases recorded since last week to nine. No infected animals have been detected on farms within a 20-kilometer radius of the initial outbreak, the Catalan Ministry of Agriculture confirmed.

Collserola Natural Park, where all cases of African swine fever have been detected, is home to approximately a thousand wild boars. Managing their population therefore presents a significant challenge for the Catalan authorities.

The army as reinforcements

As reported by 3cat , an emergency veterinary team from the European Commission, composed of epidemiologists, arrived on site this Tuesday to "assess the measures put in place on the ground and issue recommendations to strengthen actions to control the disease as quickly as possible ," the ministry added.

The day before, 120 rural agents and about a hundred soldiers from the UME (Spanish Military Emergency Unit), supported by drones, were deployed to "carry out disinfection, prospecting, search and removal work for animals" .

One of the hypotheses considered by experts for the return of this virus to Spain is that it could have arrived via contaminated deli meat in a sandwich transported by road, then consumed by a wild boar.

A deadly disease

African swine fever, which affects domestic pigs as well as wild boars and certain tick species, manifests itself through significant physical and physiological disorders. Although highly contagious among animals, it poses no risk to humans, either through contact or consumption of pork products.

The country exports 2.77 million tonnes annually to more than one hundred countries, a large part of which are outside Europe, hence Madrid's efforts to prevent the virus from reaching Catalan farms.

In Europe, African swine fever is currently present in the Baltic countries and in several territories of Eastern Europe, since its arrival from Russia in 2014.

https://www.lindependant.fr/2025/12/02/peste-porcine-africaine-en-catalogne-lepidemie-prend-de-lampleur-sept-nouveaux-cas-confirmes-par-les-autorites-pres-de-barcelone-13086450.php

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EU veterinarians are assessing the swine fever outbreak in Barcelona as cases reach nine

Published on 02/12/2025 at 16:50 - Modified on 02/12/2025 at 18:24

A task force of European Union veterinarians began work in Barcelona on Tuesday to help contain an outbreak of African swine fever, as Spain, one of the world's leading pork exporters, announced that the number of wild boars infected with the virus had risen to nine.

Experts in virology and risk management will travel to the affected area, located in the municipality of Bellaterra northwest of Barcelona, to assess the situation, provide advice and formulate recommendations, a spokesperson for the European Commission said.

Spain is the leading pork producer in the European Union, accounting for a quarter of the bloc's production, ahead of Germany, with annual exports worth approximately 3.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion).

Shipments to China, which accounts for nearly 42% of Spanish pork exports outside the EU, resumed on Monday from other parts of the country, as Beijing confirmed it would only restrict imports from the Barcelona region.

Other countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Canada, have suspended a wide range of shipments of pork and pork by-products from across Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged these countries to continue purchasing products from regions outside the lockdown zone.

Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said that the UK had indicated it would adopt the same approach as the European Union, allowing imports from unaffected areas, and discussions are underway with Canada for a similar arrangement.
...
Authorities suspect the virus may have spread after a wild boar consumed contaminated food, possibly a sandwich brought from abroad. The virus is harmless to humans, but spreads rapidly among pigs and wild boars, for whom it can be fatal.

It was first detected in two wild boars in a wooded and hilly area outside Barcelona. Seven other wild boars from the same area have also died from the disease, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday.

Catalan authorities have restricted all recreational activities, including hunting, within a 20km radius of where the first two animals were discovered. A smaller 6km perimeter has been completely sealed off, with traps set and thermal imaging drones deployed to capture and test the wild boars.
...

https://www.zonebourse.com/actualite-bourse/des-veterinaires-de-l-ue-a-barcelone-pour-contenir-la-peste-porcine-africaine-alors-que-le-nombre-de-ce7d51d9dc8ff624

[sharon sanders]

Madrid / Barcelona - DEC 05, 2025 - 09:55 EST

The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday that it has opened an investigation to determine whether the African swine fever virus, detected on November 28 in two wild boars found dead near the Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona), escaped from a laboratory. The first carcass of an infected animal was found hundreds of meters from the IRTA CReSA animal health research center , which works with the virus and has repeatedly denied any possibility of an escape in recent days.


more... https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-amb...boratorio.html

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food opens a supplementary investigation into the origin of the African swine fever virus in Spain

December 5, 2025
Within the framework of compliance with European Union (EU) regulations



The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has opened a new investigation into the origin of African swine fever (ASF) in Spain, after receiving today the report from the EU reference laboratory communicating the results of sequencing the genome of the ASF virus.

This is a complementary investigation to the one started on November 28, the date on which the outbreak of African swine fever was detected in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona).

The report from the Animal Health Research Centre (CISA-INIA), in Valdeolmos (Madrid), the EU reference laboratory, includes the molecular characterization by sequencing of the genome of the ASF virus and compares them with the different African swine fever viruses detected throughout the European Union.

All viruses currently circulating in the Member States belong to genetic groups 2-28 and not to the new genetic group 29 to which the virus causing the outbreak in the province of Barcelona belongs - very similar to genetic group 1 that circulated in Georgia in 2007.

Viruses, under natural conditions, undergo changes in their genome to varying degrees when they spread through infection cycles in animals. Therefore, the discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in Georgia does not rule out the possibility that its origin lies in a biological containment facility.

The “Georgia 2007” virus strain is a “reference” virus that is frequently used in experimental infections in confinement facilities to conduct virus studies or to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, which are currently under development.

The report suggests that the virus may not have originated in animals or animal products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present.

Therefore, the Directorate General for Agri-food Production Health and Animal Welfare of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has initiated the following actions:
1) Inform the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Civil Guard of the need to investigate these events, as the competent authority for the investigation of possible environmental infringements or crimes.
2) Initiate an investigation into the origin of the virus within the framework of Article 57.2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016.

Documents

• 25.12.05 Supplementary investigation into the origin of the AFP virus

https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/prensa/ultimas-noticias/detalle_noticias/el-ministerio-de-agricultura--pesca-y-alimentaci-n-abre-una-investigaci-n-complementaria-sobre-el-origen-del-virus-de-la-peste-porcina-africana-en-espa-a/6ab69ca4-e812-481e-b2c1-b3ae915b50d3

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.catalannews.com/society-...f-asf-outbreak

Catalonia creates biosecurity committee to probe possible lab origin of ASF outbreak
The IRTA research center sits close to the spot where the first two infected wild boars were found
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Catalan News
First published: December 8, 2025 04:22 PM
Latest update: December 8, 2025 04:23 PM

Catalonia on Monday set up a committee that will audit research centers to determine whether the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak may have originated from a laboratory.

The committee will be made up of six biosecurity experts and coordinated by Josep Usall, director of IRTA, the very center now under scrutiny due to the lab-leak hypothesis.

IRTA, located less than one kilometer from where the first two infected wild boars were found, along with other centers that conduct ASF research, will be evaluated to determine "whether there is any potential risk" of a laboratory escape...