No new cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been detected in wild boar in Spain over the course of a week for the first time since the virus arrived in Catalonia in late-November last year.
The Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food announced last Thursday that there were no positive cases from the 302 wild boar samples analysed within the high-risk zone over the past week, ARA reported.
The high-risk zone comprises 19 municipalities within Catalonia and, while the lack of new cases is being seen as significant and the Catalan authorities said it reinforces confidence in the eradication strategy and the biosecurity measures deployed, the report added.
However, it stressed that it does not mean the outbreak is over – the current restrictions and the eradication strategy remain unchanged, including restricted access to natural areas in the high-risk zone municipalities.
During the week, 333 wild boars were captured within the infected zone, taking the total number of animals captured since the start of the operation to 10,727 animals.