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A recent African swine fever (ASF) outbreak linked to the deaths of 26 wild boar near Barcelona could have been caused by a laboratory leak, according to Spain’s Agriculture Ministry.
Genetic analysis was said to confirm the pathogen was “very similar” to a strain used in vaccine development and experimental studies.
Genome sequencing by a Madrid lab showed the outbreak strain was “very similar” to one first detected in Georgia in 2007 and now widely used in research and vaccine development, Reuters confirmed.
Agriculture Ministry representatives said that “[t]he discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in Georgia therefore does not rule out the possibility that its origin may lie in a biological containment facility.”
“The report suggests that it is possible that the origin of the virus is not in animals or animal products from any of the countries where the infection is currently present.”
Spanish police searched a state-funded laboratory near Barcelona last week as part of an investigation.
Police raided the research lab for 14 hours.
The search at the Centre for Research in Animal Health (Cresa) was ordered by a local investigating judge.
It forms part of preliminary proceedings that have been “declared secret.”
The European Commission said there was “no obvious route” identified so far by which the purported virus could have left the facility.
Catalonia’s top agriculture official, Òscar Ordeig, said other laboratories could also be investigated.
Ordeig said more sequencing must be completed “as quickly as possible” in order to rule out whether the strain found in dead wild boars coincides with any of the 28 that are used for experiments at the center, according to a separate report.
Swine fever is said to be harmless to humans but can be deadly for pigs and wild boars.
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