Impact of African Swine Fever outbreak in Spain – summary
- African swine fever detected in nine wild boars near Barcelona
- Spain deploys soldiers and EU experts to contain outbreak quickly
- No cases found on pig farms but strict biosecurity enforced
- China and UK impose pork import bans causing supply shortages
- Spain is EU’s top pork producer exporting €8.8 billion annually
On November 26, two wild boars were found dead in Bellaterra, Barcelona in Spain. The deaths were found to be the result of African swine fever, a disease which does not affect humans but is often fatal to pigs.
These are the first cases found in Spain since 1994, more than 20 years ago.
Since then, the number of confirmed cases has more than tripled, with another seven boars found dead in the same area, with the same disease.
Catalonia’s veterinary services immediately put biosecurity and surveillance measures in place. It has also deployed more than 100 soldiers across the country to help contain the outbreak, since joined by the European Commission’s Veterinary Emergency Team.
Veterinary services have established 20km control and surveillance zones around each detected case.
However, at the time of writing, no cases have yet been detected on farms.
Under EU law, trade between other member states and the areas of Spain unaffected by the outbreak can still go ahead. This is known as the regionalisation principle.
However, other countries, including China and the UK, have imposed partial or full bans on imports of Spanish pork.
Bans lead to pork shortages
Spain is the EU’s leading producer of pork, generating roughly €8.8bn per year. The outbreak has hit the sector hard.
Both China and the UK have now narrowed the scope of their import restrictions, focusing on the region of Catalonia rather than Spain as a whole. Nevertheless, import restrictions are impacting the availability of key Spanish products.
Spanish meats such as serrano ham, jamon iberico and chorizo are seeing less availability in UK supermarkets, according to our sister site The Grocer.
Import restrictions will likely continue in the coming weeks, potentially affecting pricing.
Meanwhile, China, according to Spain’s Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), is a destination for nearly half of Spanish pork imports. Therefore, even partial restrictions from the country is likely to hit Spain’s pork sector hard.
How dangerous is swine fever?
African swine fever is a highly contagious viral infection. While it bears no threat to humans, it is highly dangerous to pigs.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), mortality rates in pigs can reach up to 100%. It is highly contagious.
There is currently no vaccine for the disease, meaning that containment is very difficult.
It is highly resistant to the environment, and can survive on boots, wheels, and clothes. This means that it can be carried easily. It can also survive in pork products.
According to Spain’s MAPA, it is currently present in 13 EU countries aside from Spain itself.
