August 20, 2007

China defends handling of blue ear disease outbreak in pigs
 

China rejected criticism that it had downplayed an outbreak of a disease in pigs, saying Monday (Aug 20) it had been "open and transparent" with the international community.

As of Sunday, blue ear pig disease had spread to 26 Chinese provinces, killing 68,000 pigs and prompting officials to destroy an additional 175,000 pigs, said Jia Youling, chief veterinary officer with the Ministry of Agriculture.

China has so far vaccinated 100 million pigs against the disease, which is also known as highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, he said. The disease does not affect people but can be fatal for pigs.

"We have currently seen initial success in controlling the outbreak of highly pathogenic blue ear pig disease," said Jia. He added that China had been "open and transparent" about the disease, and had provided regular updates to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

"This has prevented unnecessary suspicion and misunderstandings and helped the international community understand the situation," said Jia.

A New York Times article last week said Beijing had failed to share tissue samples of affected pigs with the international community, and that China's lack of transparency about the disease was creating fears of a global pandemic.

Jia said the ministry was prepared to provide such samples, but that no international body had so far made such a request.

Guo Fusheng, a technical advisor with the FAO, confirmed that the organisation had not yet asked China for tissue samples.