The spotlight on the outbreak of swine plague could be a contaminated sandwich. The transport sector in Catalonia is burning

The hypothesis that a sandwich containing contaminated sausages may be at the origin of the African swine epidemic (PPA) detected in Catalonia has caused discomfort in the transport sector. The Conseller of Agriculture of Catalonia, Oscar Ordeig, has explained that there are indications that the disease could have come by road and that boars accustomed to digging in the garbage took remains of contaminated meat.

The Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport has lamented in a statementthe"unfair statements"  that "without any evidence suggest that a trucker may be the source of the dumping of the remains of a sandwich." The CETM has argued that professional drivers work "responsibly and politely" and has warned that this conjecture implies "the reputation of thousands of essential workers."

Ordeig has stressed that one hypothesis is only and there is nothing confirmed. The two positive cases have occurred in boars, near the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in an area crossed by the C-58 and the AP-7, where vehicles are constantly circulating and there are service stations where animals can access waste.

CETM considers it "incomprehensible" to focus exclusively on road transport "when technicians, distributors, travellers, tourists or individuals cross the same routes on a daily basis." This generalization "only creates social alarm, confusion and serious harm" and calls henceforth for "prudence, rigour and respect for the institutions."

As the controversy continues, the European Commission has sent a group of veterinary experts to Catalonia to advise on outbreak control. The Generalitat has ensured that farms have no viruses, and in addition to the two confirmed cases, there are eight suspects waiting for the reference laboratory.

To maintain the focus, the Generalitat has mobilized 117 officers from the Military Emergency Unit (EMU), 250 Mossos d'Espadra, rural agents and local police to work on a six-kilometre perimeter in the Collserola Mountains.

The economic impact is remarkable. More than 120 export certificates are still blocked in some 40 countries that do not recognise the regionalisation of the problem and allow the entry of products from all over Spain. Catalonia exports pigs worth EUR 3 billion annually, of which EUR 1 billion go to non-EU countries currently closed as a result of the outbreak.

The Basque Government and the Navarre Government are calling for extreme clean-up measures

In the face of the swine epidemic detected in Catalonia, the Basque and Navarre governments are calling for extreme caution. The first calls on farmers and distributors to strictly comply with the clean-up and control protocols, while the second calls for extreme biosafety measures and increased mountain surveillance.

In fact, the pig sector has some weight in the southern Basque Country, especially in Navarre, with a total of 1,200 pig farms, of which 1,080 are in the foral territory, with more than 827,000 cattle.

In the Basque Country, on the other hand, there are 120 farms with almost 30,000 pigs, of which 20,800 are in Álava, 5,800 in Gipuzkoa and 3,000 in Bizkaia.