Shared responsibilities for containing swine fever
The arrival of African swine fever (ASF) is very bad news. The pig sector is key in Catalonia. There is a pig population of 7.9 million, almost as many as the inhabitants, and last year, for example, exports were worth €1,144.39 million, according to data from the Catalan government. For now, it is exports that are affected, but if the disease were to spread, it would also affect domestic trade, since if a case is detected on a farm, all the animals must be slaughtered. The possibility of Pepa (as veterinarians and farmers call it) spreading is therefore a nightmare that could affect the entire sector and mean millions in losses for farmers and the elimination of many jobs related to the entire food industry chain. That is why there is such interest in containing the outbreak in the area where the first infected wild boars were found, the six kilometers of the Collserola mountain range around the Autonomous University of Catalonia.
As of yesterday, the Department of Agriculture reported that 70% of the area has been monitored and that more dead specimens have been found, although the total number is still unknown because not all the carcasses have tested positive for African swine fever (ASF). However, it is estimated that there are around 9,000 wild boars in the entire Collserola region, which makes control very difficult. In fact, the Catalan government wants all possible efforts to be focused on this, and has therefore also accepted the support of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), not only from the specialized hunting unit, but also from any other unit that can help control and monitor the area. All security forces, both specialized and non-specialized, have been mobilized in the operation, which aims to prevent, on the one hand, the wild boars from leaving Collserola and spreading the disease to other areas—which is why hunting raids are being avoided, as they would frighten the boars and cause them to flee—and, on the other hand, to prevent them from unintentionally controlling the disease.
However, this weekend has shown that this is very difficult. African swine fever (ASF) is not a public health hazard to humans because it only affects pigs, both domestic and wild, and therefore the alarm is within the agricultural sector, not the general population. Thus, although access to Collserola is prohibited, images of people going for walks or runs were a constant over the weekend. This selfish disregard is very dangerous because any of these people, whether on the soles of their shoes or on the wheels of their bicycles, could be carriers of the virus to other areas. However, it was seen during the pandemic that it is not easy to penalize bad behavior or control the free movement of people.
In short, containing this plague is everyone's job. The main responsibility lies with livestock farmers, who must take extreme safety and biological control measures. The authorities must control and prevent the spread of the disease among wild boars, and the long-standing problem of overpopulation demonstrates that something has not been done properly in this regard. Finally, it also makes sense to appeal to the responsibility of citizens, especially those in the 76 municipalities that are part of the surveillance area, but also those throughout the country. The devastation caused by these invisible viruses ultimately affects us all.
