Spain investigating whether swine fever outbreak was caused by laboratory leak

By Charlie Devereux and Jesus Calero

MADRID, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Spain is investigating whether a recent swine fever outbreak in ​Barcelona could have been caused by a laboratory leak, the ‌Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.

The country, the European Union's top pork producer, is ‌trying to reassure trading partners after 13 wild boars tested positive for the virus in hills outside the city. The disease is harmless to humans but can be deadly for pigs and wild boars.

Genome ⁠sequencing by a Madrid ‌lab showed the strain was “very similar” to one first detected in Georgia in 2007 and now widely used ‍in research and vaccine development, the ministry said. Other cases in Europe belong to a different genetic group.

"The 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 ministry said.

Until now, Catalan officials suspected the virus spread after a wild boar ate contaminated food, possibly a sandwich brought from abroad by a truck driver.

"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," the ministry said.

The so-called Georgia 2007 ‍strain spread eastwards ⁠to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Belarus and reached eastern EU states in 2014, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation ⁠and Development.

It reached China in 2018, causing huge losses. Chinese pig meat production ‌dropped by 27% in 2019.

(Reporting by Charlie Devereux and ‌Jesus Calero. Editing by Mark Potter)