The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food, Òscar Ordeig, detailed that the 21 ASF-positive wild boars died during the last seven days within the original six-kilometer radius, in the Cerdanyola area, where the outbreak originated. With these new cases, there are now 85 declared positives since November, when the outbreak emerged and forced the confinement of nearby pig farms.

ASF is a highly fatal disease for swine species but is not transmissible to humans. Its spread is extremely dangerous for the Spanish meat market, which had not detected ASF cases since 1994. Ordeig indicated that, as there are no positive cases outside the original radius, the Government plans to lift access and activity restrictions in the natural environment within the 6 to 20-kilometer radius in the coming days, following the request of the Committee of Experts.

Although restrictions on farms and operations in the 20-kilometer area will be maintained, access to the natural environment will be permitted for organized activities and hunting under certain conditions. The Minister emphasized that “captures have been significantly increased” in both the 0-6 kilometer and 6-20 kilometer radii to control the wild boar population.

Regarding Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), which affects grazing cows, the Government lifted restrictions in 79 municipalities following a meeting between the Minister and the sector in Lleida. However, restrictions will remain in the radius of the last case detected in Alt Empordà, with the forecast to lift them on February 26 if no further outbreaks are detected in that area.

Finally, Ordeig reiterated the importance of vaccination, which already reaches 99% in affected areas, and stressed that it is “essential” to achieve 100% coverage before January 31 to guarantee immunity. Furthermore, on January 15, the payment of 6.3 million euros in compensation to livestock farmers for sanitary culling was completed.