Spain's Race Against Swine Fever: Boar Patrols to Protect Pork Industry

Spanish authorities are urgently working to identify and isolate wild boars potentially infected with African swine fever to protect the country's valuable pork industry. Using advanced technology and police forces, they aim to prevent the highly contagious disease from spreading into domestic herds, maintaining strict control measures on farms.

In a bid to safeguard Spain's lucrative pork industry, police, soldiers, and park rangers are actively tracking wild boars potentially infected with African swine fever. The aggressive approach includes utilizing drones, infra-red tech, and sniffer dogs to locate carcasses while sealing off potential cross-contamination routes under highways and pipeworks.

Barriers have sprung up around Barcelona's Collserola mountain range, a popular recreational spot, where visitors are deterred and residents instructed to report sightings. Reinforced measures are in play at local farms following Interporc guidelines, encompassing robust testing protocols, perimeter defenses, and stringent hygiene practices to stave off the virus's encroachment.

The chilling specter of the 1994 swine fever outbreak looms large, yet immediate culling of wild boars is not planned. Emilio Garcia Muro of the agriculture ministry emphasized that the focus remains on non-intrusive monitoring. Meanwhile, Catalonia has already taken steps to control burgeoning boar numbers that invaded urban areas during the pandemic.

(With inputs from agencies.)