May 31, 2007

China to assess pig death toll from blue ear disease

China will evaluate the number of pig casualties from blue ear disease and assures to make public the exact figures soon, according to a senior official with the country's Ministry of Agriculture.

Li Jinxiang, vice director general with Veterinary Bureau of the ministry denied reports of death of 20 million pigs from the disease, stating the reports as "groundless".

The Financial Times yesterday linked China's recent pork price hike with the outbreak of blue ear disease, also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.

It also said that many pigs had died from foot-and-mouth disease, which was another cause of the price hike.

Li said reports were just guess-work figures from so-called "insiders", adding the disease is now under control.

The disease may lead to dead fetuses or abortion, and piglets have almost no resistance to the disease. The mortality for infected piglets is 50 percent.

An outbreak of blue ear disease last year was one of the causes of a short supply of live pigs, a statement by the State Council said yesterday.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in April, live pigs nationwide were priced 71.3 percent higher than a year earlier, and pork, 35.5 percent higher, largely due to tightened supply.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday asked local governments at all levels to ensure the supply of pork and maintain market order amid rising concerns over the soaring price of pork.

Pork prices in northern China's Liaoning and Jilin provinces have meanwhile seen some drops.