Sequencing has shown that none of the strains the centre works with match the one that has infected the wild boars in Collserola.

In the coming weeks, IRTA-CReSA will begin a study on the degree of virulence, behaviour and transmissibility of the virus causing the outbreak.

The centre also plans to organise a meeting this year with leading international experts on this disease.

To date, the centre has analysed more than a thousand wild boar samples, of which 155 have tested positive.

Further information can be found in the press dossier ‘Outbreak of African swine fever in Catalonia: the IRTA-CReSA perspective’. This publication provides an overview of the history of IRTA-CReSA and its experience in researching African swine fever, as well as a timeline of events related to this situation:

The outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) detected in Collserola at the end of November did not originate at the Animal Health Research Centre of the Institute for Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA-CReSA).

Scientific evidence confirms this: genetic sequencing of the pathogen that infected the animals found dead in the wild has been compared with the DNA of the strains used in the IRTA-CReSA biosecurity facilities, and they do not match in any case.

This is explained in the official report on the outbreak, released on 9 February by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

This report confirms the results announced on 30 December by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Regional Government of Catalonia, following sequencing carried out in parallel by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB).

‘We are pleased that this hypothesis has been ruled out and we continue to work to help contain the outbreak and contribute scientific knowledge to the management of this crisis,’ says IRTA Director General Josep Usall.

Usall considers that the findings of this document and those of all the audits carried out by the various investigative committees ‘reaffirm the high level of biosecurity and working capacity of our centre’.

He also highlights ‘the integrity, commitment and excellence of the more than 150 professionals who work at IRTA-CReSA’ and thanks them for ‘their impeccable work during what have been difficult weeks for our organisation’.

Usall also thanks the Generalitat, European institutions, agri-food sector organisations, audit committee members and all the experts who have expressed their confidence in IRTA-CReSA for their support.

Maximum collaboration and work that has not stopped

From the outset, IRTA-CReSA has been at the disposal of the competent authorities to help control the outbreak and provide all the information required for the ongoing investigations.

The centre’s professionals have worked intensively on collecting and analysing samples and detecting positive cases.

Specifically, as of this week, IRTA-CReSA has analysed more than a thousand samples, of which 155 have tested positive for ASF, and eighteen tonnes of meat related to the outbreak have been incinerated, the same amount that is usually incinerated in nine months.

In addition, IRTA-CReSA professionals work on analysing and processing data, which is shared daily with the Department of Agriculture. IRTA-CReSA’s Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Unit integrates all available data from different sources to provide insight into the evolution of the outbreak, simulate possible future scenarios and evaluate which actions have been effective in the field.

All this work directly involves around forty professionals. ‘These are very high levels of activity, which we have had to combine with the usual activity of our centre, where we work on a dozen lines of research and innovation,’ summarises Natàlia Majó, head of the IRTA-CReSA Animal Health programme and professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

A study to learn more about the new virus

The available data indicate that the outbreak began between September and October, not later.

As for its origin, everything points to the fact that investigations should refocus on the introduction of contaminated food into the country.

At the same time, further research will be necessary to find genetic ancestors that will enable a link to be established between the new virus (from genetic group 29) and others previously reported.

“If the sequencing results had shown that the strain causing the outbreak was very similar to another strain from anywhere else in the world, we could speculate that it came from that geographical area; but, as this is not the case, it is very difficult to know. There are currently areas of the world where there are outbreaks of ASF, but it is not known which genetic group they belong to,” notes Joaquim Segalés, head of the Endemic Swine Viruses research line of the IRTA-CReSA Animal Health programme and professor at the UAB.

‘In order to make predictions about the behaviour and evolution of the virus, it is important to learn even more about it and conduct research based on all the data and samples we already have,’ adds Segalés.

For this reason, IRTA-CReSA will promote a study in the coming months on the degree of virulence, behaviour and transmissibility of the new ASF virus.

The centre also plans to organise a meeting this year with internationally renowned ASF experts.

A distinguished track record spanning more than two decades 

IRTA-CReSA’s line of research into ASF forms part of the Animal Health programme and is internationally recognised.

In fact, IRTA-CReSA is one of the European centres with the longest scientific track record in ASF. It offers support and advice in health emergencies and conducts research into ASF virology and immunology through national and European research projects. It also works on vaccine development.

Since 2017, IRTA-CReSA has been a collaborating centre of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) for the research and control of emerging and re-emerging swine diseases in Europe, led by researcher Joaquim Segalés. Both Segalés and IRTA-CReSA researchers Francesc Accensi, Carles Vilalta and Jordi Argilaguet are leading specialists in the field of ASF.

A key centre for global health in Catalonia

IRTA-CReSA is currently a key player in global health and animal health in Catalonia. In fact, the growing need for research in this field has led to a project to expand the centre, with construction work having just begun.

‘With the expansion of the building, IRTA-CReSA, from the UAB campus, will be reinforced as a strategic biosafety infrastructure in Catalonia,’ concluded Usall.

L'entrada IRTA-CReSA welcomes the confirmation that the centre was not the source of the African swine fever outbreak ha aparegut primer a IRTA.

During a visit today by the head of the Executive to the corporate headquarters of IRTA, the general director, Josep Usall, presented the current and future plans of the institution

Highlights include reference infrastructures such as the IRTA-CReSA biosafety unit

Within the framework of the 40th anniversary of IRTA, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, visited today our corporate headquarters, to learn first-hand about the research, innovation and future projects of this institution, among which stands out the construction of a new strategic infrastructure for global health in Catalonia that will be located in the Center for Research in Animal Health (IRTA-CReSA).

During the visit, the president was accompanied by the Secretary of Food of the Department of Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació, Rosa Cubel, by the mayor of Caldes de Montbui, Isidre Pineda, and by the general director of IRTA, Josep Usall, as well as by other representatives of the organization.

“We are proud to be able to explain to the first authority in Catalonia how we face, with a global perspective, the agri-food challenges of our territory, and what our priorities are for the next decade, among which are the construction of new infrastructures that we are convinced will be key to the country,” said Usall.

Research oriented to global health and the sustainability of the sector

This is the case of the new experimental unit for the study of emerging and re-emerging infectious agents of biosafety level 3 of IRTA-CReSA, which begins this year at the UAB campus.

With an investment of approximately 25 million euros, it will allow research with pathogens such as zoonotic flus or coronaviruses, and with vector insects, such as dengue mosquitoes or West Nile virus. For this reason, it will be a unique facility in Spain, at the forefront of research in One Health.

“In this way, we aspire to be the Biosafety HUB of Catalonia, which hosts all the research related to pathogens that research centers and companies in the territory need to do, working together for global health,” summarizes Usall.

Likewise, the general director highlighted the construction, from 2027, of a new pig farm at IRTA Mas Bové (Reus) which will be a pilot space for innovation aimed at sustainability and global health. This infrastructure was created with the aim of being a meeting point for the pig sector, which is key to the Catalan economy.

Commitment to the green transition and the circular economy

It is also in Mas Bové that IRTA will build one of the two biogas experimental plants that it projects within its bioenergy and sustainability strategy, framed in the Catalan biogas strategy 2024-2030.

Both this plant, and the one to be built in Monells (Girona), where IRTA has a beef farm, will allow the recovery of livestock manure and other organic by-products to generate renewable energy and quality fertilizers.

“These plants must serve both large and small companies in the agri-food sector to be able to fully assess their impact on the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic and also social,” said Usall, who during the meeting accompanied President Illa to get to know the IRTA bioprocess laboratory, where biogas research is carried out.

An institution rooted in the territory and connected to the world

IRTA, which is part of the Catalan system of CERCA centres of excellence, works throughout the territory through around twenty specialised centres, while promoting high-impact international collaborations.

Recently, the institute has strengthened its alliance with the University of California, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world in agri-food research, with the aim of jointly facing the challenges of climate change, water management and the sustainability of Mediterranean food systems.

“We are more than a thousand professionals who work to respond to the great global challenges from our country, with applied and collaborative research to transform food systems for a sustainable welfare future”, concluded Usall.

We share a gallery of images of the visit:

L'entrada IRTA brings President Illa closer to its strategy and priorities ha aparegut primer a IRTA.

Representation of the Scientific Committee on contagious nodular dermatosis in Catalonia

Through our IRTA-CReSA center (Centre for Research in Animal Health), we have activated a scientific committee to strengthen surveillance and research on contagious nodular dermatosis (DNC), following the confirmation of two positive cases in the province of Girona. The function of this committee is to advise, recommend and support the Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació at the scientific level in the episode of DNC. The aim is to contribute to the control and containment of this viral disease affecting cattle.

DNC is a disease caused by a capripoxvirus, similar to sheeppox and caprine viruses, which exclusively affects cattle and buffalo. It is transmitted mainly by insect bites and causes nodular skin lesions, fever and decreased milk and meat production. However, it poses no risk to human health, either by contact with infected animals or by consuming meat, milk or derivatives.

Scientific research and rapid response

The IRTA-CReSA teams have moved to the territory to collect samples of the detected foci in order to carry out the isolation and sequencing of the virus. This analysis will allow to determine its origin and improve epidemiological surveillance strategies.

As Enric Vidal, researcher of the IRTA-CReSA Animal Health program, points out: “the important thing is to be able to isolate the strain of this virus and try to determine its sequence, its genome, to be able to compare it with that of other outbreaks in other areas and to be able to discover how it has been the transmission to Catalonia,” explained the researcher. 

In parallel, a scientific committee on contagious nodular dermatosis has been created, at the request of the DARPA, which is formed by researchers and technicians from IRTA-CReSA and the UAB specialized in pathological anatomy and veterinary epidemiology. Its members include Mariano Domingo, Natàlia Majó, Enric Vidal, Cristina Lorca, Carles Vilalta, Alberto Allepuz, Lola Pailler and Francisco Domenes. In addition, the committee has the specific support of expert researchers from France and Italy, the countries where cases of CND had already been detected, so that they can share their experience in the disease, and is open to other collaborations whenever necessary.

This committee has the function of advising, recommending and providing technical and scientific support to the Department in everything related to the management of the DNC. He is currently working in two main areas. The first is the collection and analysis of samples and the genetic characterisation of the virus. 

The second is the evaluation of the vaccination plan proposed by the DARPA in order to reach its criteria. Mass vaccination of livestock will be key to containing the spread of the disease.

“The appearance of the DNC in Catalonia reminds us of the importance of having prepared research and an active surveillance network. Scientific knowledge is essential to protect animal health and the sustainability of farms”, says Vidal. 

IRTA highlights the importance of combining scientific research, health surveillance and cooperation with the livestock sector to ensure a rapid and effective response to emerging diseases.

L'entrada IRTA-CReSA coordinates the new Scientific Committee on contagious nodular dermatosis (DNC) in Catalonia ha aparegut primer a IRTA.