Treyfish
Moderator
<!--Tue 7 Aug 2007
-->Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border - Khun Sam
Tue 7 Aug 2007
Filed under: News, On The Border
Burmese living along the China-Burma border have stopped eating pork in the last few months due to an outbreak of what is known as ?blue-ear? pig disease in areas of northeastern Burma and western China, according to sources in the area.
Areas affected by the spreading illness include Muse and Nam Hkam in northern Shan State and Bhamo and Laiza in southeastern Kachin State. Both areas border China?s Yunnan Province.
?People do not eat pork anymore in Bhamo because of the disease and because pigs are dying in China,? a businessman who runs a grocery store in Bhamo told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
?Instead of pork, people are buying other items, particularly fish and eggs,? he said. The price of fish and eggs, as well as other meat items, has reportedly increased.
The grocery store owner said that pork has not been on sale in markets in Bhamo and Laiza for almost two months. ?The demand and the cost for fish and eggs, particularly eggs, have increased after news spread about the pig disease. one egg which sold for between 50 and 70 kyat (about .04 US cents) is now selling for 100 to 150 kyat (about 10 US cents),? he said.
The outbreak of ?blue-ear? pig disease has spread across 25 provinces and regions of China and has led to the death or slaughter of about 90,000 pigs in the country, as of July 22.
From January to July this year, about 165,144 pigs were infected with the disease and 45,546 died, while another 42,728 have been slaughtered, China?s official People?s Daily quoted Li Jinxiang, an official from China?s Ministry of Agriculture, as saying. The ministry developed a vaccine for the disease and has started delivering it to area farmers.
Pork prices have remained steady in China, but officials are concerned about possible rising prices in the coming weeks. Recent news reports suggest that some farmers in China have given up raising pigs for fear of their being stricken by the disease.
Sources in the Yunnan Province of China, the world?s largest consumer of pork, have stopped eating pork dishes.
?My family is afraid to eat pork, and many others are not eating it,? one Chinese merchant in Yunnan?s border town of Jiang Hkong said. ?Many pigs, including some owned by my relatives, have died here after becoming sick with sores on their bodies.?
According to the merchant, pork has rarely been seen in markets over the last two months, but a few sellers have started carrying it. ?In the past, about 10 pigs were slaughtered each day in the Jiang Hkong market, but only one or two are on sale now. Some people still eat it because pork is very popular in China, but they cook it very carefully.?
Meanwhile, in Vietnam two people have reportedly died from eating pork from diseased pigs, and another 40 have fallen ill since January, though Vietnamese officials claim the ?blue ear? pig disease poses no threat to humans.
?There is no scientific evidence to suggest that people can catch blue ear disease from pigs,?:magnify: Vietnam?s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong said during a meeting on livestock disease in Hanoi last week.
No human cases of the disease have yet been reported in China. :tiphat: http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/0...rk-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/
<!--
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/"> <rdf
escription rdf:about="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/" dc:identifier="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/" dc:title="Irrawaddy: Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border - Khun Sam" trackback
ing="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/trackback/" /></rdf:RDF>-->
-->Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border - Khun Sam
Tue 7 Aug 2007
Filed under: News, On The Border
Burmese living along the China-Burma border have stopped eating pork in the last few months due to an outbreak of what is known as ?blue-ear? pig disease in areas of northeastern Burma and western China, according to sources in the area.
Areas affected by the spreading illness include Muse and Nam Hkam in northern Shan State and Bhamo and Laiza in southeastern Kachin State. Both areas border China?s Yunnan Province.
?People do not eat pork anymore in Bhamo because of the disease and because pigs are dying in China,? a businessman who runs a grocery store in Bhamo told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
?Instead of pork, people are buying other items, particularly fish and eggs,? he said. The price of fish and eggs, as well as other meat items, has reportedly increased.
The grocery store owner said that pork has not been on sale in markets in Bhamo and Laiza for almost two months. ?The demand and the cost for fish and eggs, particularly eggs, have increased after news spread about the pig disease. one egg which sold for between 50 and 70 kyat (about .04 US cents) is now selling for 100 to 150 kyat (about 10 US cents),? he said.
The outbreak of ?blue-ear? pig disease has spread across 25 provinces and regions of China and has led to the death or slaughter of about 90,000 pigs in the country, as of July 22.
From January to July this year, about 165,144 pigs were infected with the disease and 45,546 died, while another 42,728 have been slaughtered, China?s official People?s Daily quoted Li Jinxiang, an official from China?s Ministry of Agriculture, as saying. The ministry developed a vaccine for the disease and has started delivering it to area farmers.
Pork prices have remained steady in China, but officials are concerned about possible rising prices in the coming weeks. Recent news reports suggest that some farmers in China have given up raising pigs for fear of their being stricken by the disease.
Sources in the Yunnan Province of China, the world?s largest consumer of pork, have stopped eating pork dishes.
?My family is afraid to eat pork, and many others are not eating it,? one Chinese merchant in Yunnan?s border town of Jiang Hkong said. ?Many pigs, including some owned by my relatives, have died here after becoming sick with sores on their bodies.?
According to the merchant, pork has rarely been seen in markets over the last two months, but a few sellers have started carrying it. ?In the past, about 10 pigs were slaughtered each day in the Jiang Hkong market, but only one or two are on sale now. Some people still eat it because pork is very popular in China, but they cook it very carefully.?
Meanwhile, in Vietnam two people have reportedly died from eating pork from diseased pigs, and another 40 have fallen ill since January, though Vietnamese officials claim the ?blue ear? pig disease poses no threat to humans.
?There is no scientific evidence to suggest that people can catch blue ear disease from pigs,?:magnify: Vietnam?s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong said during a meeting on livestock disease in Hanoi last week.
No human cases of the disease have yet been reported in China. :tiphat: http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/0...rk-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/
<!--
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/"> <rdf
escription rdf:about="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/" dc:identifier="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/" dc:title="Irrawaddy: Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border - Khun Sam" trackbacking="http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/08/07/irrawaddy-ailing-pigs-bring-pork-sales-down-on-china-burma-border-khun-sam/trackback/" /></rdf:RDF>-->