The Ministry of Agriculture, Branches, Fisheries and Food throw that the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic appeared thanks to the work of the IRTA-CReSA center. The research laboratory is located in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), within high risk radius and near where the first dead wild boars tested positive for the virus appeared. From the Generalitat they certify 20 minutes this “didn’t happen no incident likely “No measures are taken either in the biosecurity building or in any of the operational facilities,” they specify.
In addition, they point out that the work carried out at CReSA is “preparatory”. In other words, the work is in progress an initial phase “limited only to the preparation of the land and the urbanization of the surrounding area”. The final phase of the expansion of the facilities is planned for 2028. Likewise, the Minister of Agriculture, Oscar Ordeigassured that the group of independent experts investigating the origin of the epidemic will present a first report next week in which It will also be analyzed whether this work is linked with focus.
“They have committed that next week there will be a first report on the state of the facilities and the protocols to detect if there have been deficiencies or if there are points to improve”, he explained to journalists before appearing in Parliament. The group made up of six biosecurity experts analyzes the laboratories and institutions that work with the African swine fever virus. Among them, the Institut d’Investigació i Tecnologia Agroalimentària (IRTA) and the Animal Health Research Center (CResA), which They depend on the Generalitat.
The government wants to halve the wild boar population
On the other hand, the head of Agriculture declared that the Government wants to reduce the wild boar population by half and prevent new outbreaks of other diseases such as tuberculosis or accidents in the interaction of the specimen with the urban environment. Ordeig clarified that the number of copies varies between 125,000 and 180,000 animalsdepending on the time of year. The first figure on the wild boar population in Catalonia comes from the report commissioned by the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, from the department headed by Ordeig.
To halve the population of this game, the government is proposing to create a Taula del Senglar de Catalunya. It will be a space of “governance with the different public administrations” and groups from different territories, among which will be the hunters. The Catalan administration is focusing on the instrument already created in the Collserola Natural Park, which has allowed reduce its population by half. However, in the place where the ASF outbreak appeared, there are still between 800 and 900 specimens.
The report will also detail which regions have the most overpopulation and where more measures will be applied. Ordeig argued that the regions of Girona, central Catalonia and the Pyrenees are those where there are the most specimens. According to data from the Generalitat, nine out of 10 road accidents animal-related are caused by wild boars. For the councilor, this is the sign that action must be taken.
No new ASF cases and criticism from the opposition
Likewise, he explained that no new cases have been recorded of the disease in dead wild boars found in the radius of infection. He also welcomed the fact that the latest analyzes carried out on the 16 farms which were still awaiting PCR tests turned out to be negative. “We can confirm that the virus did not enter any farmsin any commercial circuit,” Ordeig said of the negatives at the 55 farms within a 20-kilometer radius.
During the commission in which Ordeig and the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Núria Parlon, gave explanations to the parliamentary groups on the management of the crisis, the opposition criticized the “slowness” of the government in granting aid to the pig sector and to promote incentives aimed at reducing the wild boar population. From Junts they asked to act and reproduce measures similar to those of the Government of Aragon to eliminate half of the specimens. They also assured that if the experts’ report specifies that the virus came from a research center of the Generalitat “they will demand responsibilities”as they also stated they would do from the CUP.
On the part of Esquerra Republicana, they criticized the presence of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and accused the Catalan Executive of wanting to “Hispanize” Catalonia. The Catalan PP demanded that the Generalitat entrust control of the health emergency to the Ministry of Agriculture and that let the expert group work in the investigation into the origin of the epidemic. The Commons called for the aid to be used to save the jobs of employees working in pig companies. In this sense, Ordeig defended that They will do “the impossible to avoid job losses”.
The expert group of the Ministry of Agriculture
After the Generalitat declared an emergency this Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture appointed a scientific committee this Wednesday to give its opinion on the swine fever epidemic detected on November 29 in Collserola. From the department headed by Luis Planas, they emphasized that it is “six experts of recognized prestige.”
More precisely, they added that it was “two experts in the field of animal health research, two in wildlife and two others in animal production.” The objective is to “monitor the evolution of the disease” and “analyze possible measures to control and eradicate the virus in Spain”. Furthermore, it is constituted as “a permanent and consultative working group” whose first meeting will take place next Friday.
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