Four external experts and two from IRTA: who will conduct the audit to determine if swine fever originated in a laboratory?

BarcelonaThe Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, announced on Monday the names of the six internationally renowned specialists who will form the committee tasked with auditing the facilities and protocols of centers and laboratories working with the African swine fever (ASF) virus in Catalonia. The group will meet on Tuesday, and according to Ordeig, allowing the scientists and technicians to work this week "will be crucial" in obtaining more information about the situation. the suspicion that the outbreak could have been caused by a biological leak from a laboratory

As the regional minister explained, all members of the committee that will coordinate this investigation to clarify "whether there is a potential risk" of the virus escaping are "the best" in the field of swine fever and biosecurity at the national level. The committee will include two experts from the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA): the head of the high biocontainment unit, Xavier Abad, and the president of the animal experimentation ethics committee, Diana Ramírez. In addition, the logistics coordinator for the audit will be the center's director, Josep Usall.

But four of the auditors are from centers outside Catalonia, including the head of the animal and biosafety area at the Animal Health Research Center (CISA) in Madrid, Laura Pérez, who will be the scientific coordinator and president of the committee. Also collaborating will be researcher Gorka Aduriz, from Neiker - the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development; The head of the viroscience department at Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, Massimo Palmarini; and the head of the biosafety and biocontainment area at the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, Gonzalo Pascual.

"We do not rule out incorporating new experts," admitted Ordeig, who again called for caution. The group's first line of action will be to determine which centers that research or study the virus will be inspected and which biocontainment and biosafety protocols should be reviewed, according to the Minister of Agriculture.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the variant of African swine fever (ASF) detected in the dead wild boars of Collserola It is very similar to the one that circulated in Georgia in 2007This is the method typically used for experimental infections in research centers. IRTA-CReSA is the only center in Catalonia handling the virus, but other institutions are also pursuing lines of research that may be related to it. For example, in the affected area, there are university campuses with several research groups, such as the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the UAB. Sources familiar with the matter say it is possible that other centers will conduct preliminary research, inspections, or sample analyses.

Ordeig defended the government's "instant" response to the European Union report and stated that it "maintains collaboration" at both the national and European levels to generate and share all available information on the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Catalonia. "We don't judge or draw conclusions from evidence and reports that are inconclusive, but which we cannot dismiss. We must let the scientists and technicians do their work," the minister insisted.

Outbreak "contained" at 13 positive cases

Regarding the outbreak, Ordeig confirmed that it is "contained." "No positive cases have been found outside the affected area," he stated. Therefore, the number of positive cases remains at 13.