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The official veterinary services of Catalonia have notified the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food of the detection of two wild boar positive for the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus in Bellaterra (Barcelona), where they were found dead on November 26. These positive cases, confirmed by the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete (Madrid), represent the first detection of the disease in Spain since November 1994. The two wild boar carcasses detected were approximately 1 km apart.
The ASF operational manual has been activated, which includes the delimitation of the infected zone, active search and removal of wild boar carcasses under official control, hunting bans in the area to prevent the movement of wild boar to ASF-free areas, restrictions on non-essential activities, strengthening passive surveillance, and biosecurity measures at pig farms, with official visits to the farms, among other actions.
The area includes moderately dense forested areas, with a moderate density of wild boars, residential areas, regional roads, and several highways and motorways surrounding the area (see map). Within a 10 km radius, there are 5 commercial pig farms, the nearest being more than 5 km away from the location where the positive wild boars were found, and within a 10 to 20 km radius, there are a total of 34 production and breeding farms. Surveillance and biosecurity control in the entire area have been reinforced. Investigations into the possible origin of the disease are ongoing.
In this regard, the ministry is urging the industry to implement all necessary biosecurity and surveillance measures in pig farms and wild boars, as well as during animal transport. It is also a reminder of the obligation to report any suspicions to the official services of the autonomous communities, both in wild boars and in pig farms throughout the country.
As mentioned, this is the first detection of ASF in Spain since November 1994, losing its ASF-free status before the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), a status that had been achieved in 1995. It is worth noting that ASF has been present in the European Union since it entered the Baltic countries and Poland from Russia in 2014, with wild boar populations and, in some cases, domestic pig farms currently affected in 13 countries (Italy, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia). Since the disease entered the EU, Belgium, Sweden, and the Czech Republic have successfully eradicated it by applying strict control and surveillance measures on wild boar populations after a sporadic long-distance leap, as has been the case detected in Spain.
For more information on the disease, you can visit our special ASF section, where you will find, in addition to the latest related news, how to recognize the disease, how it is transmitted, images of lesions, and more.
November 28, 2028 / MAPA/ Spain.
https://www.mapa.gob.es
