African Swine Fever Resurgence Threatens Spanish Pork Industry

African swine fever has resurfaced in Spain after three decades, with two wild boar near Barcelona testing positive. This poses a risk to Spanish pork exports to China, though recent agreements may limit bans to affected regions. Spain, Europe's largest pork producer, is ready for containment efforts.

African swine fever has made a comeback in Spain after 30 years, confirmed by the Agriculture Ministry upon discovering two infected wild boar near Barcelona. This raises concerns for Spain's expanding pork exports to China, potentially risking trade bans.

The recent Spanish-Chinese agreement may mitigate the impact by restricting bans to specific regions instead of the entire country. Catalonia, home to 8% of Spain's pork farms, is under close scrutiny as Spain remains the EU's largest pork exporter ahead of Germany, exporting €3.5 billion worth of pork annually.

Despite biosecurity measures being reinforced and farms modernized, Spain's pork industry faces challenges from wild boars and rabbits, which threaten livestock with contamination. Emergency measures and investigations are underway to manage and contain this outbreak effectively.

(With inputs from agencies.)