The Government has temporarily banned imports of pork from parts of Spain after the country confirmed its first cases of African swine fever in over three decades.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said all fresh pork coming into Britain from Spain would be held at Border Control "until further notice" following the outbreak of the virus.
African swine fever is a highly contagious disease that spreads rapidly among pigs and wild boar, though is not harmful to humans.
It has no vaccine or cure and often leads to mass culling when detected in farmed herds.
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The virus can also survive in various pork products, such as ham, sausages or bacon, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
In a statement, Defra said: "Following an outbreak of African swine fever in Spain, all fresh pork and other affected products from Spain will be held at Border Control Posts until further notice.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and keep all measures under review.”
Authorities in Madrid activated emergency measures in Catalonia, a region central to pig farming, following the disease outbreak.
The Collserola park near Barcelona was closed for all leisure activities today after the disease was detected in wild boar nearby
|GETTY
The virus was detected in six wild boar near Barcelona.
The country's agriculture minister, Luis Planas, confirmed today about a third of its pork export certificates had been blocked.
"Of the 400 export certificates to 104 countries, a third are blocked," he said.
"We are working to open them as quickly as possible."
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Spain's agriculture minister said about a third of its pork export certificates had been blocked following the outbreak
|GETTY
African swine fever has spread westwards in Europe in recent years, disrupting pork markets and prompting trade bans.
Germany's outbreak in 2020 led to sweeping restrictions from major buyers such as China, while Croatia has battled infections in recent months.
Spain, the European Union's top pork producer, has so far avoided the virus in domestic pigs since 1994, making the latest detection in wild boar near Barcelona a significant concern for its €8billion pork industry and export markets.
Taiwan became the latest country to announce restrictions on Spanish pork imports when its agriculture ministry said on Saturday it had banned all pork products and live pig imports.
China is also believed to have banned pork imports from Barcelona province.
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