The government assumes the swine fever crisis is not over: "More positive cases will surely emerge."

BarcelonaThe Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, confirmed this morning that only two cases have been detected so far. positive cases of African swine fever In Catalonia, but raised the number of suspected cases to eight and predicted that more positive results would "surely" emerge. In several interviews on morning radio programs, the regional minister explained that the wild boars suspected of being infected are concentrated in the same area within the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the Collserola Park, and did not rule out "reinforcing" the police presence to prevent public access. Ordeig, who stated that nearly 40 wild boars have been tested and guaranteed that the disease has not reached farms, made it clear that "the restrictions remain in place." This Sunday, 300 personnel were deployed in the natural areas where access was prohibited, including officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police), Rural Agents, Barcelona's Municipal Police, Forest Defense Groups (ADF), Civil Protection, and local police. And this Monday, some 80 members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) will join the surveillance operation, as confirmed by the regional minister. "We'll see if more are needed or not. This will depend on whether we find more animals testing positive and need to expand the areas of focus," he said.

The Minister of Agriculture has assured that the objective is not "to issue fines": "We are here to provide signage, to inform, and to say that we are under a health alert," he stated. However, this Sunday he had warned that the police will have "zero tolerance" for anyone who does not comply with the restrictions. "We are in a health crisis [...] It is not just an issue for livestock farmers and the food sector, but also a national issue; we have to do it right and quickly, allocating all the necessary resources," he said. Ordeig pointed out that meat exports from Catalan farms are blocked "in more than 100 countries" and believes it will be difficult to reopen these markets. However, he expressed his conviction that Catalonia is prepared to face this crisis. Regarding the measures to be taken, he highlighted biosecurity measures on farms and raids in the forests: "We have to kill wild boars to reduce their population and avoid the adverse effects they cause," he said. Over the weekend, emergency services (112) received 125 calls from citizens reporting sightings of wild boar outside the patrol area.