Limited for the moment to wild fauna, with positive results only detected in wild boars of Catalonia, and without being a zoonosis, therefore “not transmitted” to humans or even to other species, the epidemic of African swine fever (ASF) has surged … in Spain after thirty years without trace of the disease, already has a “high impact” on the pork sector. This was warned by Miguel Ángel Higueras, from Anprogapor (Association of Pig Breeders).
And he quantified it: around 30 euros less per pig products and breeders charge. Prices on fish markets “have fallen very significantly” in less than two weeks and this has “repercussions” in the form of “losses” in the sector’s accounts, he warned.
“This situation is impossible to maintain in the short and medium term,” He emphasized, in addition to demanding that, given this price situation, the chain “be flexible enough to be able to be transferred to consumers.” And, he warned, if the scenario continues, this will lead breeders to reduce their livestock “to have fewer losses”, which has already proven “difficult to recover later”, which will lead, he argued, to an increase in prices for citizens.
“We are the victims, since we receive high impact “on a problem that currently concerns exclusively wildlife”, he added this Monday, during his participation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development in the first meeting of the Committee of Experts on African Swine Fever in Castile and León – third producer, with more than 4.5 million heads – after Catalonia and Aragon.
Precisely, the branch advisor, María González Corral, emphasized that from her department They work on “control” of the food chain, in addition to demanding that the Ministry of Agriculture get involved in solving a “problem” throughout the country, although for the moment infected animals are limited to the province of Barcelona.
Corral nevertheless stressed the importance of “strengthening” biosecurity measures that the sector has applied for years to prevent the disease from reaching farms. It is not for nothing that Castilla y León is also the first in terms of the number of Iberian inhabitants and has an entire industry associated with the world of pork which represents 13 percent of agro-industrial exports.
In terms of foreign sales, although Corral stressed that it was still early to assess the impact, he insisted on demanding that the department of Minister Luis Planas intensify negotiations with other countries so that they apply the regionalization criterionwhen it comes to vetoing the entry of pork products and not for the country as a whole. Something that works in the case of the European Union and China – where the three territories that concentrate the bulk of foreign sales are located, such as Italy, Portugal and the large Asian country -, but in the case of Japan and Mexico where they also arrive.
The Committee of Experts is made up of experts from around fifteen entities from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment – the main vector of transmission is wild boar -, producers, associations, agricultural organizations, Vitartis, scientists, academics… with the aim of “meet the challenges” posed by this ASF epidemic. “Be prepared” in case that happens, Higueras warned. And, as recognized by Rufino Álamo, president of the Council of Veterinary Colleges of Castile and León, the other time they acted “late” and it is a “very virulent” disease. But, he added, the herd is “totally safe”.
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