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Catalonia Orders Lab Audits and Starts Slaughter Plan as Swine Fever Controls Expand

Officials say infections remain confined to wild boar near the UAB, with a 20‑kilometre cordon now in force.

Overview

  • President Salvador Illa ordered audits of all centers handling African swine fever, including IRTA‑CReSA, after the Agriculture Ministry said a laboratory origin cannot be ruled out.
  • Authorities report no positives in commercial farms, with testing focused on keeping the virus contained to the initial area around Collserola.
  • The government and industry agreed to begin sending about 30,000 healthy pigs from the surveillance zone to slaughter, as a redefined perimeter places 55 farms and roughly 80,000 pigs in the infected zone.
  • Access to natural areas is restricted across 91 municipalities until December 14, with about 1,000 officers staffing 79 checkpoints that prioritize information and only sanction clear repeat offenders.
  • Mossos d’Esquadra and the Guardia Civil formed a joint unit to investigate the outbreak’s source, while EU experts have cautioned against uncontrolled wild‑boar culls that could spread the virus.