African swine fever was found in two wild boars near Barcelona, the Agriculture Ministry said Friday, marking the first time the virus has been confirmed in the country since 1994.

The highly contagious virus – harmless to humans but with a high mortality rate among pigs and wild boar – could have a significant impact on Spain’s pork sector, the largest in the EU, officials said.

Oscar Ordeig, the agriculture minister of the Catalan government, said the economic impact of the virus could be “big,” but highlighted the rapid response.

The boars were found dead, one kilometer (0.6 miles) apart, on Wednesday near the Autonomous University of Barcelona campus.

Protocols have now been activated to control the spread, including suspending exports of pork and pork products, Catalan officials said at a press conference.

Authorities have defined a 20-kilometer (12-mile) perimeter, which includes 39 farms. Rural agents will also scour the area to search for dead wild boars.

According to Spain’s Agriculture Ministry, the virus entered the EU from Russia into the Baltic States and Poland in 2014. It currently affects 13 other countries, including Italy and Germany.

“Since the disease entered the EU, Belgium, Sweden and the Czech Republic succeeded in eradicating it after applying strict control and surveillance measures in wild boar populations, following isolated long-distance jumps – similar to the case now detected in Spain,” a ministry statement said.

According to the European Food Safety Authority, the virus can take several years to eradicate and there are no vaccines or cures.

“Areas affected by the virus suffer significant financial losses due to the loss of animals, restrictions on movements of pigs, wild boar and their products, and the cost of control measures,” it added.

Spain is already coping with a major outbreak of bird flu, and earlier this month ordered all farm birds to be confined to prevent contact with wild birds. (AA)

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