The Department of Agriculture of the State of Catalonia has decided to close a radius of six kilometers, starting from the point of Cerdanyola where two wild boars were found killed by African Swine Fever (ASF), where activities in the natural environment are prohibited and affect a total of twelve municipalities. This measure to prevent the spread of African swine fever covers areas in a total of twelve municipalities: Sabadell, Sant Cerzi, Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, Montcada y Rexac, Ripollet, Barbera, Cerdaniola, Sant Cugat, Terrassa and Rubi.
In this area, the state decided to completely close access to the natural environment, suspend any hunting and forestry activity and prevent any activity in rural areas. The department will create physical and chemical barriers and traps to control wild boar and activate joint operations with Mossos d’Esquadra, Seprona, technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture and others.
Within a 20 km radius of the perimeter, affecting 64 municipalities, recreational, fishing and biodiversity-related activities are limited, and actions that may conflict with population control and biosecurity functions are prohibited. Agriculture also announced that access to the entire Collserola Park for recreational activities is restricted.
The Ministry of Agriculture called for an emergency meeting with the mayors of the affected municipalities, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the regional councils and the management of the Collserola Park to coordinate measures and ensure the maximum effectiveness of the device. The state advises affected municipalities to intensify the cleaning of garbage cans and containers, place cat feeders at high points, warn citizens against feeding wild pigs, close picnic areas until further notice, and call 112 in the event that a dead wild pig appears and is not touched.
The emergence of the plague caused a preventive blockade of pork exports, as explained on Friday by veterinarian Emilio García Moro, Director General of Agricultural Food Production of the Ministry. “Bad news, very bad,” he declared.
The arrival of African swine fever, known as PIPA by veterinarians, was only a matter of time. The plague is typical of sub-Saharan Africa, but in 2007 it spread to Georgia, and from there to Russia and China. In 2014, the virus was already present in the eastern European Union. The markets shook. With a single case of plague, the affected country enters the international blacklist and can no longer export pork. The disease arrived in Germany, which was then the largest pork producer in Europe, in the summer of 2020, also from wild boar. Countries such as Denmark and Germany themselves have built kilometer-long fences in the mountains to prevent the passage of infected animals.