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Spanish authorities probing the ongoing ASF incident in Catalonia are now considering the chance that the disease may have originated from a research facility. Their focus has narrowed to five local facilities as potential sources.

Outbreak Details and Economic Concerns

A total of thirteen infections of the virus have been confirmed in feral pigs in the countryside outside the Catalan capital beginning on 28 November. This has prompted Spain – the European Union's largest exporter of pig products – to scramble to contain the outbreak before it escalates into a significant risk to the nation's €8.8bn-a-year pork export industry.

Evolving Theories of Origin

Initially, regional authorities believed the outbreak started after a wild boar ate infected meat products brought in from outside Spain – perhaps a thrown away food item from a haulier.

However, the national ministry of agriculture has opened a different investigation after determining that the variant of the pathogen found in the dead animals in the region is different from the one known to be circulating in other European countries. Investigative findings suggest the strain in question is rather akin to one found in the country of Georgia in 2007.

"The discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in that country does not, therefore, exclude the possibility that its origin is a high-security laboratory," said the ministry.

Research Link Explored

The 'Georgia 2007' virus strain is a 'standard' pathogen frequently employed in experimental infections in secure labs to study the disease or to test the efficacy of treatments, which are presently being developed. The report implies that the virus may not have started in animals or animal products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present.

Official Actions and Audit

In reaction, the regional president of Catalonia stated he had ordered the regional research body to conduct an inspection of several facilities that work with the ASF pathogen within a 20km radius of the affected area.

"We isn’t ruling out any scenarios when it comes to the origin of the incident of this disease, but neither is it confirming any," the official stated. "Every theory are on the table. Above all, we need to know what happened."

Current Control Efforts

The agriculture ministry have reported thirteen infections of the disease – each one in deceased wild boar located within six kilometers of the first detection site. Officials added the remains of 37 more animals found in the zone have been analysed, with every one testing negative for the virus. Experts sent to the 39 pig farms within the 20km radius have detected no sign of the disease there. More than one hundred personnel from the country's emergency response forces have additionally been sent to the region to work alongside law enforcement and forestry agents.

Worldwide Context of African Swine Fever

Long native to the African continent, ASF is harmless to humans but often fatal to pigs. In the year 2018, the disease turned up in China, which is home to about half of the global pigs. By 2019, there were concerns that as many as one hundred million pigs had been culled or died. Two years later, the pathogen was confirmed to be in the Federal Republic of Germany, home to one of the EU’s largest swine herds.

The Country's Crucial Position in Pork Exports

Spain, which is the EU’s biggest producer of pig meat, exported pig meat products worth 5.1 billion euros to other European nations in the previous year, and almost 3.7 billion euros of pork products to markets outside Europe. National statistics indicate that Spain processed fifty-eight million swine in 2021 – an rise of 40% from a ten years prior.