The Department of Agriculture of the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya) has informed local authorities in 19 municipalities that all existing ASF-related restrictions will remain in place at least until the end of the summer period.
The decision was announced during a meeting between Catalonia’s Minister of Agriculture, Óscar Ordeig, and the mayors of municipalities located within the high-risk zone. According to regional government officials, the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current situation and consider the concerns and proposals of local communities regarding further measures to combat the disease.
Following the meeting, representatives of the Department of Agriculture reiterated the importance of maintaining the current restrictions to ensure the effectiveness of disease-control measures.
“Maintaining the current restrictions is necessary to guarantee the effectiveness of the measures already implemented and to continue making progress towards eradicating the disease,” the department stated.
The Catalan government also emphasized that ASF is already having a direct impact on the region’s primary economic sector. Pig production is one of the key branches of Catalonia’s agricultural industry, making disease control a top priority for the authorities.
Although no specific details were provided regarding the measures currently in force, the region has previously implemented restrictions on animal movements, strengthened farm biosecurity requirements, and intensified monitoring of wild boar populations, which are considered one of the main reservoirs of the ASF virus in Europe.
The extension of the restrictions indicates that the epidemiological situation in the region remains challenging and that authorities are not yet prepared to relax controls before the end of the highest-risk summer period.
PigUA.info, based on materials from Democrata.es