Forest rangers in Barcelona have been deploying nets, cages, and lethal measures to remove the wild boar population in Collserola Natural Park to stop African Swine Fever transmission and enable pork exports to resume. African Swine Fever does not infect humans, but it illustrates how Spain is addressing potentially deadly animal-to-human disease threats. Zoonoses are infectious diseases that spread from vertebrate animals to humans, including hantavirus, avian flu, monkeypox, and Ebola. These diseases cause millions of deaths worldwide, and hospital admissions for zoonoses in Spain have tripled over the last 15 years. Climate change, land-use changes, and globalisation are cited as key drivers. Hantavirus activity appears under control, while Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused deaths and suspected cases, with low epidemic risk expected for Spain.
"For the past few weeks, forest rangers in Barcelona have been laying out nets, placing down cages and unholstering their sniper rifles, all with the aim of killing Collserola Natural Park's entire wild boar population as quickly as possible. As extreme as this may seem, there's a justified reason for it: to halt the transmission of African Swine Fever (ASF) and resume pork exports from the affected area as soon as possible."
"They are known as zoonoses, infectious diseases that spread from vertebrate animals to humans. They kill millions of people every year worldwide, and in Spain hospital admissions for zoonoses have tripled in the last 15 years. The main causes for this include climate change, changes in land use and globalisation."
"The hantavirus crisis - which this month saw a cruise ship dock in the Canary Islands and international passengers evacuated to their countries - appears at present to be under control. Now it's Ebola which global epidemiologists are concerned about after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed at least 160 lives, with over 670 suspected cases reported."
"There will be cases of Ebola in Spain, but the risk of an epidemic is very low, Joan Carles March, a specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicin"
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