Spain Investigate Alleged Laboratory Leaks Behind Babi Fever Outbreak

Illustration of pig breeders (Photo: Freepik/aleksandarlittlewolf)

JAKARTA The Catalonia regional government, Spain said it would investigate a research center outside Barcelona after the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture revealed the latest swine fever outbreak may have been caused by a leak from the laboratory.

Spain, the largest producer of pork in the European Union, is now trying to calm its trading partners after 13 wild boars tested positive for the virus in the hills around Barcelona. This disease is harmless to humans, but can kill livestock pigs and wild boars.

The Ministry of Agriculture explained that the genome sequencing results carried out by a laboratory in Madrid showed the virus was 'very similar' to the strain first detected in Georgia in 2007.

Strain is currently widely used in vaccine research and development. Meanwhile, other cases in Europe come from different genetic groups.

"The findings of a virus similar to those that have circulated in Georgia do not rule out the possibility that its origin comes from facilities with a biological security system," the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.

Previously, Catalonia officials suspected that the virus had spread after a wild boar ate contaminated food, possibly in the form of a sandwich brought from abroad by a truck driver.

"This report shows there is a possibility that the source of the virus does not come from animals or animal products from countries that are currently affected by infection," he continued.

The ministry did not name a specific laboratory. However, the Head of the Catalonia Agriculture Service, Oscar Ordeig, said the local government would open an investigation into the Center for Research in Animal Health (Cresa), a state-funded research institute.

The research center is located near Barcelona's Autonomous University and is in a six-kilometer quarantine area designated by the authorities after the outbreak was discovered. The Ordeig added the possibility of an investigation would also be extended to other laboratories.

In 2017, the World Animal Health Organization designated Cresa as a pig fever research center. The laboratory has not yet provided an official response, but to the fact-checking site Maldita.es, Cresa stated that it did not find any evidence indicating that they were the source of the outbreak.

The strain of swine fever 'Georgia 2007' previously spread to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Belarus, and reached eastern European Union countries in 2014, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The virus later hit China in 2018 and caused heavy losses, with Chinese pork production dropping by 27 percent in 2019.