Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture is investigating whether the source of its African swine fever (ASF) outbreak near Barcelona may have been a laboratory located close to where the infected wild boars were discovered.
In a statement at the weekend, the ministry said it launched the investigation after receiving information from the EU reference laboratory about the results of the sequencing of the virus genome.
It showed that the virus, initially found in wild boar in Cerdanyola del Vallés a few miles outside Barcelona on November 26, was very similar to the genetic group 1 that circulated in Georgia in 2007, but differed to all the ASF viruses currently circulating in member states.
“Viruses, under natural conditions, propagate through infection cycles in animals that are mostly susceptible to changes in their genome. The infestation of a similar virus that circulated in Georgia does not exclude, however, that its origin may be in a biological confinement facility,” the ministry statement said.
The ministry confirmed that the ‘Georgia 2007’ virus cell is a ‘reference’ virus used frequently in experimental infections in confinement facilities to carry out virus studies or to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccines. It therefore concludes that it is possible that ‘the origin of the virus is not in animals or products of animal origin come from countries in which the infection is currently present’.
The ministry has commissioned the Natural Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Civil Guard to investigate the cases.
Laboratory audit
Catalan News reports that IRTA-CrESA, Catalonia’s only laboratory that works directly with the virus, is located less than a kilometre from where the first dead and infected wild boars were discovered.
On Saturday, Catalan president Salvador Illa announced an audit of the five IRTA-CrESA facilities within the 20-kilometre ASF risk perimeter. “We cannot rule anything out, and as a minimum precaution we are auditing the facilities and reviewing protocols,” he said, according to Catalan News.
He stressed his ‘confidence’ in the research centre but emphasised that no hypotheses regarding the outbreak’s origin can yet be confirmed or dismissed.
There is precedent from the UK of a laboratory being the source of a notifiable disease outbreak. In 2007, a foot-and-mouth outbreak that affected a number of farms in Surrey, was linked to the nearby Pirbright Institute, which had been working with the virus.
An inquiry found that vehicles had spread the virus, having driven through water that leaked onto the road surface due to inadequate drainage at the laboratory.
More cases
Catalonia is Spain’s most pig-dense region, accounting for a quarter of pigs on farms and 40% of Spain’s processing capacity. It is also home to a large population of wild boar.
As of Friday, 13 cases of ASF had been confirmed in Catalonia, all in wild boar located in the same area, within a 6km radius of the initial outbreak, confirmed on November 28. Additionally, 37 dead wild animals in the area and its surroundings have been analysed, all with negative results.
Veterinary authorities have visited all 39 pig farms located in the municipalities within the 20km infected zone and have carried out inspections, taken samples, and verified their biosecurity measures. All are now free of the disease, the ministry said.
Spain’s pig price has predictably plummeted in the past week or so, as export bans, most applying to Catalonia only, leave a surplus of pigs on the market.