Spanish pork producers ‘very concerned’ by African swine fever

A local police warning sign reading 'African Swine Fever Surveillance Zone' is posted on a pole at the entrance of the Collserola natural park, near Barcelona, after two wild boars infected with African Swine Fever (ASF) were found dead in the park. Photo / Manaure Quitero, AFP

Spain’s pork industry is “very concerned” by a growing African swine fever outbreak among wild boars that has sparked jitters about the world’s third-largest producer of the meat and its derivatives.

AFP looks at the possible consequences of the outbreak, the first in Spain since 1994, with Miguel Angel Higuera, director of Spain’s National Association of Pork Producers (Anprogapor).

What is the health impact?

Swine fever does not affect humans but is highly contagious and lethal for pigs, storing up potentially devastating consequences for the pork sector.

After finding two cases in dead boars outside Barcelona last week, Spanish authorities confirmed a further seven cases on Tuesday within the same perimeter.

The sector is “very concerned by the situation” and the protection of domestic pigs is the “primary objective”, said Higuera.

A weekend analysis of farms within a 20km radius of the outbreak found “100% negative samples”, said Higuera.

“The direct health impact in farms is none; there is no African swine fever in domestic pigs in Spain.”

How has trade been hit?

Spain exports almost three million tonnes of pork products each year to more than 100 countries, including New Zealand, but Agriculture Minister Luis Planas has said a third of them have halted imports as a safety measure.

The key Chinese market – the world’s most voracious consumer of pork and Spanish pork’s largest export destination – is accepting imports as long as they are not from the Barcelona region.

Higuera said the industry was working with the agriculture ministry to see if such regionalised trade restrictions could be implemented elsewhere.

But the repercussions will reverberate for some time: at least 12 months must elapse from the last case to regain the important fever-free status.

“More positive boars will definitely be found, we still do not have the minute zero to start counting down those 12 months,” warned Higuera. He said, “The situation will drag on for a time.”

How to deal with the scourge?

A response plan developed and tested by the Agriculture Ministry and Spain’s regions, which have frontline responsibility for emergency management in the country’s decentralised system, is now in place.

Higuera explained that the protocols established distances between pig farms, their size and the health checks carried out in them.

“We have sent very strong and powerful messages to our members to increase further, if possible, all the biosecurity measures” to prevent the disease infiltrating farms.

“Where we have problems, and where everyone in Europe has problems, is with the wild boar population, because there is overpopulation,” said Higuera.

“There is not enough management through hunting to deal with this such high growth” in the number of boars.

“The only thing we have is to trust that all the containment protocols are working,” Higuera concluded, as hundreds of regional health officers, troops and EU experts worked on monitoring the outbreak.

- Agence France-Presse