Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
The expansion of a CATALUNYA lab could lead to the outbreaks of swine flu in Spain.
This week, the country declared an emergency due to an infection that causes animals’ internal bleeding.
There is no vaccine or cure for the virus, but it does not usually cause death in humans.
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In Bellaterra, in the province of Barcelona, there is a Centre for Research in Animal Health.
Outside of the Catalan capital, at least 13 wild boars tested positive for swine virus.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. El Pais Newspaper reported that late November a wild pig died of the illness just a couple hundred metres from the research centre on swine disease.
The building work for an extension to the facility began in September. This includes a high-security lab.
El Pais The CReSA was contacted to inquire if the construction of a new building could affect security protocols.
The report stated that work continued on site on Wednesday with around 12 people working on it and two police officers protecting the worksite.
The CReSA, a leading centre for animal health research, has a 4,500 m2 biocontainment area and six laboratories that have a high level of biosafety to combat viruses such as swine flu.
Ironically, the head of the CreSA’s biocontainment unit, Xavier Abad, posted on social media on November 14 that ‘accidents in laboratories or in facilities that handle pathogens exist’.
How swine-fever arrived in Barcelona has not yet been established.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it could have arrived through contaminated foreign foods that were thrown away and eaten by wild pigs.
The strain of swine flu that is currently being recorded in Europe has been genetically analyzed and found to be different.
The strain is similar to that found in Georgia in 2007. Scientists at CreSA are using similar strains provided by UK’s Pirbright Institute.
Click here for more Catalunya News by The Olive Press.
