Spain is facing its first outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Catalonia. The regional government, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, has mobilized all necessary resources to control the situation. A veterinary emergency team from the European Commission has been deployed to the area to assess the measures on the ground. Authorities recognize the problem of wild boar overpopulation, which are carriers of the virus, and plan to develop a population control plan not only in the infected zone but throughout the territory. To date, nine positive cases have been confirmed, all found within the six-kilometer perimeter in the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès. Authorities have declared "critical hours" and are urging the public to avoid visiting Collserola Park to prevent the virus from spreading. Over 400 personnel, including military, police, and forest agents, have been deployed to combat the epidemic. Concurrently, the regional government has opened a 50-million-euro credit line to support affected farmers.
"The priority is to contain the focus," stated the Agriculture Counselor, noting that 39 pig farms within a 20-kilometer radius have tested negative. "We have an overpopulation problem," the regional government acknowledged, planning to enlist hunters to reduce the wild boar population. "We were lucky with the work done in Collserola," the Counselor admitted.
The virus, capable of surviving up to 110 days in fresh meat and 1,000 days in frozen meat, poses a significant threat to Spain's livestock industry. Authorities cannot yet specify when restrictions will be lifted, considering the virus's ability to persist in the environment for several days.