July 19, 2006

 

Pig farmers charged after diseased pigs detected

 

 

A father and son in the US state of Maryland are facing several charges after raids by the health authorities on their farm indicated several hogs testing positive for trichinosis.

 

The raids in March and April on the unlicensed slaughterhouse also revealed decomposing animal carcasses and livestock feeding on garbage at the farm.

 

Three pigs believed to have wandered from the farm have tested positive for trichinosis, state officials said Monday.

 

State veterinarians would test the remaining pigs on the 112-acre farm, which has been under a swine quarantine since late April, said Kate Wagner, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

 

The farm is said to have fallen into neglect after one of the primary owners was under parole.

 

The attorney for the farmer said the diseased pigs on the farm were infected when they were purchased as they were in the farm for too short a period to contract the disease there.

 

Trichinosis is extremely rare on pig farms and had been nearly eradicated in the past 30 to 40 years, said Thomas G. Hartsock, an animal science professor and swine specialist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

 

Pigs contract trichinosis by consuming meat from a mammal infected with the parasite, Trichinella spiralis. Humans can catch the disease by eating undercooked meat that contains the parasite, Hartsock said.

 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the disease has become rare due to factors such as legislation banning the feeding of raw-meat and garbage to hogs, improved hygiene on hog farms, freezing of pork and the public awareness of the danger of eating undercooked pork.

 

About a dozen cases a year are reported in the United States. The disease causes various symptoms that can last a few months. It goes away without treatment in normal cases but can cause death in severe ones.