Spain reports its first case of African swine fever since 1994
28th Nov 2025 / By Alistair Driver
Spain has reported its first cases of African swine fever since 1994, with potential huge implications for the wider pig sector.
Suspected cases in two wild boars found dead on November 26, approximately 1 km apart, near the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, were confirmed as positive by the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete, in Madrid, Spain’s agriculture ministry said.
The ministry has notified the EU and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) of the outbreak and activated emergency measures in the affected area. It is urging the sector to ‘implement all necessary biosecurity and surveillance measures on pig and wild boar farms, as well as during animal transport’.
It is also reiterating the obligation to report any suspected cases to the official health services, whether in wild boar or on pig farms throughout the country. An investigation into the source of the infection is underway.
Spain is the EU’s biggest pork producer and exporter. The outbreak comes at a time when prices across the EU and particularly Spain have been falling steadily for months.
While Spain has a regionalisation agreement with China, the development will have a huge further impact on its export trade, potentially leaving a surplus of pigs on the EU market, which will put downward pressure on prices.
ASF currently affects wild boar populations and, in some cases, domestic pig farms in a total of 13 EU countries – Italy, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia.
Since the disease entered the EU, Belgium, Sweden and the Czech Republic have managed to eradicate it after applying strict control and surveillance measures in wild boar populations, following long-distance jumps.
NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson urged Defra to ensure no potentially-infected products from Spain enter the UK and to finally deliver the resources needed to monitor and seize illegal imports at key UK points of entry, like Dover.