China: Pig Disease Could Spread
Pastor Dale Morgan
China: Pig Disease Could Spread*
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 10, 2007; 3:45 AM
BEIJING -- A disease killing pigs in southern China could spread with
hotter summer weather, China's Agriculture Ministry warned Thursday.
The illness, which has killed at least 300 pigs, has been identified as
a strain of blue ear disease, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
Wednesday.
"It is the season for peak outbreaks. High temperature and humidity
could cause even more outbreaks in the summer and autumn," the
Agriculture Ministry said in a notice on its Web site.
It is difficult to know how widespread the disease is because China's
pig industry is fragmented, with many animals raised on small farms or
by individual farmers, the notice said.
It said local governments must increase their reporting of new cases.
Xinhua said blue ear disease spread to China in the mid-1990s, but a new
mutation has caused the recent outbreak.
Blue ear disease, also called porcine reproductive and respiratory
syndrome, was first identified in the United States in 1987, according
to the Web site of the World Organization for Animal Health.
The ministry statement said the disease does not affect people.
The pigs in Guangdong province showed symptoms typical of the disease,
including loss of appetite, fever and bleeding, Xinhua said.
The affected pigs were all raised by individual households instead of
large-scale farms and were not for export, it said.
Hong Kong media said Monday about 1,300 pigs were believed to have been
infected.
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On the Net:
Agriculture Ministry: http://www.agri.gov.cn)