African swine fever (ASF) has been detected in the city of Barcelona for the first time, as the number of confirmed cases in Catalonia grows beyond 200.
The latest update on Spain’s ministry of agriculture website on March 12, reveals there have a further 11 cases in wild boar found dead or with remains found in the wild in municipalities included in the restricted zone.
This took the number of reported outbreaks to date to 38, three of which are defined as ‘primary’ and 35 as ‘secondary’, with a total of 227 positive cases in wild boars in nine municipalities.
In addition, 1,971 other animals tested negative, of which 1,408 were captured or killed without showing clinical symptoms, and 563 were investigated through passive surveillance – whole carcasses or remains found in the wild or animals with symptoms that were killed in the infected area and its surroundings.
The ministry said: “Intensive efforts continue to search for wild boar carcasses and to reduce wild boar populations in the area, primarily through the use of traps for their capture and population control carried out by rural agents and specially trained hunters under the supervision of the competent authority.
“Likewise, work continues on the installation and monitoring of isolation measures, fencing, and other barriers, prioritizing control in corridors used by wild boar, which are being adapted to the evolving epidemiological situation.”
Barcelona case
Catalan publication Ara reported that a new positive case of has been detected within the Barcelona municipality. This latest positive result has prompted heightened precautions in the Collserola mountain range, where the closure of the natural park has been reinforced, Ara reported.
Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig said a resolution would be issed this week to extend access restrictions to the entire Collserola Natural Park.
“We are continuing with the containment strategy for the epicenter and the entire Collserola area; as you know, closing the entire natural park is impossible, but we are implementing a containment strategy and also reinforcing our resources with captures,” he said.