The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and the Guardia Civil (Spanish Civil Guard) carried out a search and seizure operation this Thursday at the IRTA-CReSA laboratory, the only facility in Catalonia authorized to handle samples of African swine fever (ASF). The search began shortly after 8:30 a.m. and ended around 11:00 p.m. "It's going to be a long process," police sources said. This action was ordered by the Cerdanyola del Vallès Court of Instruction Number 2 as part of the legal case concerning the outbreak of ASF detected in Collserola, which has been declared secret. The objective is to collect documentation for the investigation that aims to determine whether the outbreak originated from a laboratory leak. The search and seizure of these facilities was carried out following the protocols and security measures required for this type of research center, both police forces stated. According to sources consulted by ARA, this is a first step in what will be a complex investigation. During the search, which lasted more than twelve hours, the officers found a large amount of documentation related to the investigations being carried out at the center, very well organized and compartmentalized. They also had to follow numerous security protocols, and in fact, the objective was precisely to examine them to see if anything went wrong. At this point, according to the same sources, there are no indications pointing in that direction. This is precisely what they came to look for this Thursday. Given its proximity to the origin of the outbreak and the nature of the material they are dealing with—they have samples of African swine fever (ASF)—the sources consulted added, everything had to be thoroughly examined. Several explosives and chemical weapons specialists from both agencies also participated in the police operation. These officers will likely collect samples of the viruses that IRTA works with, also to compare them with those that infected the wild boars and thus verify if they are the same variant. Everything indicates that these samples will be sent to Madrid for analysis. Today's search should be understood as a first step in the investigation, which is still in its very early stages. In other words, the police are beginning to analyze the case and want to obtain as much information as possible from IRTA. To address the case, both police forces have created multidisciplinary teams: the operation is being led by officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra's Environmental Unit and the Guardia Civil's Seprona (Nature Protection Service), as well as agents from the DIC (Criminal Investigation Division), experts in investigation. Throughout the day, IRTA has been heavily guarded by several police vehicles. In the background, the noise of the construction work being carried out on the premises to expand the facility has been present, although The laboratory has already stated that they are not the cause of the outbreak. of plague. The police intervention is very lengthy precisely because all the documentation is highly technical; it needs to be thoroughly analyzed, and taking statements from some workers is not ruled out.

In the 1960s, the major outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) that ravaged the Iberian Peninsula for thirty years entered through Portugal, where it had arrived in 1957 via contaminated catering from a flight from Angola. This food was served to a pig farm. From there, it entered Spain by train in Extremadura and then spread throughout the country, which had to close its exports for decades. Therefore, the theory of a contaminated sandwich in the current case wouldn't be far-fetched because this has already happened before. It is, therefore, a plausible hypothesis that remains under consideration. Other possibilities, such as transmission between animals, are also plausible, but less likely because the infected wild boar would have had to quickly cross France, where there are no reported cases. And, also, and this cannot be ruled out, it could have originated in a laboratory, which is what both the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture are currently investigating.

The Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) has been dedicated for four decades to research and innovation in the agrifood sector, contributing to the transformation of food systems to achieve sustainable well-being in a world increasingly threatened by climate change. Josep Usall, IRTA's Director General, analyzes how science can help feed the future.

Researchers at the Animal Health Research Center (IRTA-CReSA) are sequencing and isolating the virus detected in wild boars that died in the Collserola Natural Park after being infected with African swine fever. They are searching for the virus's genome to compare it with those circulating in other countries and pinpoint its origin. Francesc Accensi, an IRTA-CReSA researcher and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), explained to ARA that the most likely scenario is that an animal came into contact with contaminated food or material transported by a human. However, he cautioned, "We may always be left wondering how it got here. Once we have the sequence, we can see where it came from and determine if it closely resembles the virus circulating in Italy, Poland, Germany, Romania, Russia, or China. But we won't know exactly how it arrived, whether it was on tires." If it were in food, remember that this would have affected wild boar, but not humans or other animal species.

Twenty years ago, apple varieties were neither red nor crisp because they weren't adapted to the heat of the Lleida plain, and the meat exported from Catalonia to Asia could only stay fresh for about 60 days. Research has been proposing solutions to both agri-food problems, in these cases through genetic editing and technological sophistication, respectively. Currently, the underlying concern is the climate crisis, which not only requires us to rethink and adapt crops and livestock farms, but also pushes business leaders, administrations, and scientists to seek new food sources and strengthen surveillance of zoonotic (animal-derived) diseases that can impact human health. The Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA) wants to take action to get ahead of the curve and has announced that it will build a high-security laboratory for experimentation with viruses and pathogens.