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Chinese province checking pig deaths - International Herald Tribune
Chinese province checking pig deaths - International Herald Tribune
Chinese province checking pig deaths
The Associated Press
Published: February 9, 2009
BEIJING:
A northern Chinese province has launched an investigation into the cause behind the recent deaths of more than 1,000 pigs, state media reported Monday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,056 pigs, most less than a month old, were found dead in 10 villages in one county in Shanxi province.
China is especially wary of any unchecked spread of disease in its pig population.
Two years ago, blue ear disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, killed hundreds of thousands of pigs before it was brought under control.
The outbreak caused farmers to stop raising pigs because of worries they would become infected. That sent the price of pork ? China's staple meat ? sharply higher.
Xinhua said animal disease control officials in Shanxi were carrying out the investigation. Officials have already started burying or burning the dead pigs.
It said no contaminated pork had been found in stores or restaurants.
Another disease commonly found in pigs, the Streptococcus suis bacteria, is known to infect people through wounds.
An unusually large and lethal outbreak of Streptococcus suis killed at least 38 people in the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2005, mostly farmers who butchered or handled infected pigs. More than 200 people were infected. Pockets of infection were also reported then in Hong Kong and Jiangsu province in the east.
Symptoms include high fever, nausea and vomiting, followed by meningitis, hemorrhaging under the skin, toxic shock and sometimes coma. Some patients have also suffered organ failure.
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<cite cite="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/09/asia/AS-China-Dead-Pigs.php">Chinese province checking pig deaths - International Herald Tribune</cite>
The Associated Press
Published: February 9, 2009
BEIJING:
A northern Chinese province has launched an investigation into the cause behind the recent deaths of more than 1,000 pigs, state media reported Monday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,056 pigs, most less than a month old, were found dead in 10 villages in one county in Shanxi province.
China is especially wary of any unchecked spread of disease in its pig population.
Two years ago, blue ear disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, killed hundreds of thousands of pigs before it was brought under control.
The outbreak caused farmers to stop raising pigs because of worries they would become infected. That sent the price of pork ? China's staple meat ? sharply higher.
Xinhua said animal disease control officials in Shanxi were carrying out the investigation. Officials have already started burying or burning the dead pigs.
It said no contaminated pork had been found in stores or restaurants.
Another disease commonly found in pigs, the Streptococcus suis bacteria, is known to infect people through wounds.
An unusually large and lethal outbreak of Streptococcus suis killed at least 38 people in the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2005, mostly farmers who butchered or handled infected pigs. More than 200 people were infected. Pockets of infection were also reported then in Hong Kong and Jiangsu province in the east.
Symptoms include high fever, nausea and vomiting, followed by meningitis, hemorrhaging under the skin, toxic shock and sometimes coma. Some patients have also suffered organ failure.
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