An EU report does not rule out that the origin of the swine epidemic in Catalonia is in a laboratory

The Centre for Animal Health Research(CISA-INIA) in Valdeolmos (Madrid), a reference laboratory in the European Union, has sent a report to the Spanish Government suggesting that the outbreak of the African swine plague in Catalonia could come from a laboratory, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported in a statement.

After receiving the report, an investigation has been opened into the outbreak detected a week ago in the Collserola area of Barcelona.

"All viruses currently circulating in Member States belong to genetic groups 2-28 and not to the new genetic group 29K; the virus that causes the focus in theprovince of Barcelona is in that group, very similar to the genetic group 1 that circulated in Georgia in 2007, "the statement adds.

The similarity between the two has raised suspicions from the laboratory that "viruses, under natural conditions, when spread in animals through infectious cycles, undergo, to a greater or lesser extent, changes in their genome."

Therefore, "the discovery of a virus similar to the one that circulated in Georgia does not rule out its origin being in a biological confinement facility," the statement adds.