October 26, 2009
Swine disease epidemic hit parts of China
China's agriculture ministry has announced that an epidemic of swine disease that killed more than 80,000 pigs in 2007 has surfaced in parts of the country.
An outbreak of pathogenic blue-eared pig disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, has appeared in five areas of China, the ministry said in a statement posted on the central government website.
However, the ministry added that the overall swine disease situation in China was stable, compared with 2007, when over 80,000 pigs were killed by the disease and 235,000 others were culled, causing pork prices to rise sharply.
As of October 20, around 3,300 pigs had died from the disease and 7,724 had been culled.
