May 10, 2007

China says 'Blue Ear Disease' strain killing pigs in the south

A mysterious illness sweeping through pig populations in southern China, killing at least 300 animals, has been identified as a strain of "blue ear disease," state media said Wednesday (May 9).

The official Xinhua News Agency said that an effective vaccine has already been developed and authorities will start to administer it to pigs in Guangdong province "soon".

It said blue ear disease spread to China in the mid-1990s. The recent outbreak was a caused by a new mutation.

Blue ear disease is also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome or PRRS, and was first identified in the US in 1987, according to the website of the World Organization for Animal Health.

The pigs in Guangdong showed symptoms typical of the disease, including loss of appetite, fever and bleeding, it said.

The affected pigs were all raised by individual households instead of large-scale farms and were not for export, Xinhua said.

Hong Kong media said Monday that some 1,300 pigs were believed to have been infected.