Update on ASF cases in Spain

Since the last update on the African swine fever (ASF) situation issued on February 17, 2026, the Official Veterinary Services (SVO) of the Government of Catalonia have reported the detection of three new outbreaks in wild boars. This brings the total to 33 cases in wild boars found dead, remains found in the wild, or culled because they showed symptoms consistent with ASF in municipalities where cases had already been reported previously. There have been 34 total outbreaks reported to date, 3 of which are primary and 31 secondary, for a total of 195 positive cases in wild boars in 7 municipalities: Cerdanyola del Vallès, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Terrassa, Rubí, Molins de Rei, and Sant Feliu de Llobregat.

In addition, another 1,433 animals have been tested and found negative, of which 942 were captured or culled without showing clinical symptoms, and 491 were investigated through passive surveillance (whole carcasses or remains found in the wild or animals with symptoms that were culled) in the infected area and its surroundings.

A total of 1,042 samples were analyzed by ELISA, of which 6 were positive. All samples that were positive by ELISA were also positive by PCR. No animals were found to be positive by ELISA but negative by PCR. Seventeen animals were also detected as positive by IPT (indirect immunoperoxidase technique), an alternative test for detecting antibodies.

Evolution of the ASF outbreak in Catalonia. Table compiled from updates issued by MAPA.

				Negatives
Date of MAPA communication	Primary outbreaks	Secondary outbreaks	Total	Captured	Passive surveillance	Total negative	Total analyzed	Average analyzed/day
26 Feb 2026	3	31	195	942	491	1433	1628	39.3
17 Feb 2026	3	28	162	661	451	1112	1274	17.8
13 Feb 2026	3	26	155	624	424	1048	1203	17.6
6 Feb 2026	3	23	142	549	389	938	1080	18.0
29 Jan 2026	3	20	103	468	365	833	936	17.0
23 Jan 2026	3	17	85	404	345	749	834	13.8
20 Jan 2026	3	14	64	375	265	640	704
12 Jan 2026	3	12	60	300	322	622	682	15.0
5 Jan 2026	3	10	47	234	296	530	577	3.4
29 Dec 2025	3	8	29		262	262	553	32.5
19 Dec 2025	3	7	27		201	201	228	13.9
12 Dec 2025	2	5	16		115	115	131	10.1
4 Dec 2025	2		13		37	37	50	20.5
2 Dec 2025	2		9				9	7
28 Nov 2025	2		2				2	2

Number of cases by detection method (Source: SVO, this table does not include animals hunted by battues).

	Total negative	High-risk zone	Lower-risk zone	Outside infected zone	Positives
Carcasses or remains	160	53	59	48	128 (65.64%)
Collision with trains or cars	299	111	154	34	55 (28.21%)
Trapped or killed without symptoms	824	735	88	1	7 (3.59%)
Killed with symptoms	32	15	10	7	5 (2.56%)
TOTAL	1315	914	311	90	195

Authorities have determined that the virus spreads at a rate of approximately 1.7 km/month (20.7 km/year).

Regarding the definition of zones, on February 20, the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food, and Feed (PAFF Committee) approved the new regionalization into Zones I and II, which has not yet been published in the OJEU.

Containment measures include the reinforcement of fences with a total of 222 control points where cattle grids and other types of barriers have been installed to prevent wild boars from entering or leaving the area, while allowing vehicles and people to pass through.