May 6, 2014

France bans pig imports over PEDv fears

In an attempt to avoid an epidemic that has killed millions of pigs, France is banning all imports of live pigs from the US, Japan, Mexico, and Canada.

According to The Local, the porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv) has been killing pigs across the US, and there is no reliable vaccine to protect against it. The French ministry of agriculture said it would be banning imports of pigs from those countries in order to keep the virus from entering France and killing off millions of French pigs. It is the first European country to do so since the virus became a problem.

"Imports of live pigs, semen and all products containing pork for animal feed coming from the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan have been suspended pending a European decision," the French agriculture ministry announced Friday (May 2).

Any animal feed containing pork products is also affected by the ban, though pork intended for human consumption is still perfectly acceptable because the virus cannot be transmitted to humans.

The exact number of pigs imported from the affected countries is confidential, but The Local reports that fewer than 10 live pigs have been imported to France from the US since January, and only two were brought in from Canada.

Europe has its first encounter with the PEDv in the 1970s but an epidemic was unlikely since it was only a milder strain that eventually disappeared over time.

Earlier, China and Japan have imposed "temporary restrictions" on hog imports from the US.