Chickens confined throughout Spain, restriction of movement, strengthening of biosecurity measures on farms, vaccination campaigns,… Until Military Emergency Unit (UME) intervened in one of these crises. As in the cinema classic starring a very young Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver in 1982 about the bloody overthrow of former Indonesian President Sukarno, 2025 has become the year we live dangerously on farms across Spain. The threats that have kept thousands of ranchers up at night over the past 12 months include: blue tongueTHE lumpy skin disease (NTD)THE bird flu and, more recently, the African swine fever (ASF). Are appropriate measures being taken? Are all these projectors under control? Does climate change have anything to do with it?
Four health crises and their consequences
Bluetongue, skin disease, avian flu and African swine fever (ASF) have several things in common, unfortunately for breeders: all four are caused by virus transmitted quickly, by agents such as mosquitoes and wildlife. All of them also cause significant economic damage to the farms they “visit”, since in virtually all cases this usually involves slaughter of all livestock or poultry on the infected holding with economic losses for the breeder. Even the threat itself has an impact. For example, the appearance of swine fever in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona) on November 28 caused a historic decline in the sector’s reference market in Spain – Mercodlleida – 10 cents per kilo of pork, increasing from 1.30 to 1.20 euros on December 1st. To which was added a new reduction of 10 cents, to 1.10 euros, three days later. At the end of November, pork became cheaper by 0.1% compared to the previous month.
Avian flu: new case in Lleida, despite “containment”
The bird flu forced “confine” all chickens on all farms Spanish authorities since November 11 due to the risk that migratory wild birds transmit the “flu” through contact with poultry. Despite this, This Christmas Eve, a new shoot appeared on a farm in Lleida, bringing the number of cases to 15 in Spain and decreeing the immobilization of all poultry farms within a 10 kilometer radius. In addition to demarcating a reinforced surveillance zone within a radius of 3 km. Outbreaks in different wild birds also increased to 87. Meanwhile bird migration time passesand the risk decreases, the president of the Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia, José Miguel Gil, emphasizes that “the H5N1 serotype, which is the one that is spreading across Europe, has not mutated” and considers contagion to human beings very unlikely. However, he warns of “high pathogenicity” and the fact that a large number of birds have already been sacrificed (around 1.5 million, or 5% of the census).
“We have asked the ministry to take measures to lower the health classification given the epidemics in France, which could lead to the ruin of the farm, and we ask that only carrier animals be euthanized,” says José Ramón González (UPA) about lumpy skin disease (LSD).
Dermatosis: concern for France
Regarding the lumpy skin disease (NTD)a virus that infects cattle, particularly cows, and of which no cases have been recorded since October 24 at the time of writing this article. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Generalitat of Catalonia, since the main affected area is the province of Girona, have obtained the approval of the European Commission for an urgent vaccination plan, both in the established regulated zone and in neighboring areas. However, the threat persists due to increase in new cases in the south of Franceparticularly in the departments bordering Spain which are the Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude and Haute Garonne. The management of the French authorities has provoked protests in the sector. “We have asked the ministry for measures to lower the health classification facing the epidemics in France, which could be the ruin of the farm, and we ask that only the carrier animals be slaughtered”, declares the head of livestock of the Union of Small Farmers and Breeders (UPA), José Ramón González.
Blue tongue, “on standby”?
Concerning the oldest of these diseases, blue tongueThe Ministry of Agriculture confirms the presence of the virus in almost all of Spain, with the exception of the Canary Islands (the only Spanish territory free of this disease), although its presence has recently been detected in Cáceres, Badajoz, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Alicante and Valencia. There are several serotypes in circulation: 1,3,4 and 8. Gil remembers that “before the mosquito which transmitted it did not exceed a certain latitude”but which has now “been adapted for national distribution”. Currently, the vice-president of the Council of Veterinary Colleges of Castilla y León (COLVETCYL) emphasizes that the blue language is “on standby” with the arrival of winter and emphasizes that it is not harmful to humans. What this highlights is that there are already vaccines of different serotypes and they are already working “on awareness and vaccination to stop and eliminate it.”
Regarding bluetongue: “Before, the mosquito that transmitted it did not exceed a certain latitude”, but now “it has adapted to transmit it on a national scale”, affirms José Miguel Gil (Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia).
Swine fever, a last-minute “guest”
To conclude the year, a last minute return: African swine fever (ASF), located to date in 27 wild boars. All in the same surveillance area in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona), without any cases in free-range pigs. The virus that has this animal as its main “client” “does not have zoonoses (does not affect people) and this represents a problem outside of derived or non-fresh products”, but it is “an economic problem” underlines this expert who recalls that Spain is the first European exporter of pork and the third in the world after the United States and China. The president of the Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia avoids speculating on the origin of the epidemic and considers that “the wild boar swarms everywhere” although this expert “hopes that it can be contained” thanks to all the security measures adopted, although he confirms that “the damage is done” in reference to the decrease in exports to markets as important as China, Japan, Mexico and South Korea. The second and third are still well closed.
“Health alerts are becoming more and more important”
But are the appropriate measures being adopted? Are all these projectors under control? Does climate change have anything to do with it? The Livestock Secretary of the Union of Small Farmers and Breeders (UPA), José Ramón González, recognizes that “In recent years, health alerts have become increasingly important” and directly links it to phenomena such as the increase in average temperatures on Earth. “Climate change displaces viruses”, confirms the representative of this agricultural organization which defends that “Europe has the best food security in the world“We have protocols for all illnesses.”
“Europe has the best food security in the world: we have protocols for all diseases,” says the livestock secretary of the Union of Small Farmers and Breeders (UPA).
Regarding the measures adopted by public administrations to prevent the “jump” of swine fever on farms, the livestock manager of this agricultural organization speaks of “well done” and, in this case, he emphasizes that “everyone congratulates the Ministry of Agriculture and the Generalitat for having contained the epidemic”. Of those who fight on the front line against all these animal pathologies, all of them, except avian flu, are not contagious to humans and in the case of flu it is very specific, emphasizes the president of the College of Veterinarians of Segovia José Miguel Gil. “There have always been animal diseases” and, he adds, “with current means of transmission, they sound more and citizens learn more.”
Yes, he agrees with González, of the UPA, that “Climate change influences the vectors (transmitters) such as mosquitoes of different species” and emphasizes that many of the diseases mentioned such as ASF, avian flu or bluetongue “they come from warmer climates or places like China, India or Africa” and adds another important variable: invasive species. In any case, he specifies that in the case of African swine fever (ASF), it is old knowledge “since 30 years ago we were already fighting to eradicate it in Spain”.
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