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Friday, August 05, 2005:
Vietnam bans pig, pork import from neighborhood as epidemic rages
VIETNAM - The Vietnamese government ordered Friday an immediate halt to import of pork and live pigs from countries in the region which are being ravaged by a fatal swine disease.
An emergency communication from the Prime Minister has instructed federal government agencies to work with provinces bordering the affected countries, including China, to crack down on smuggling of pork and pigs.
Animal health and market management agencies have been ordered to tightly screen the trade of pig and pork.
“If live pigs and pork products are found originating from those countries, they must be confiscated and destroyed immediately," the communication said. Besides, the importers involved would have to pay for destroying them.
Source: thanhniennews.com
Sichuan 'pig fever' cases rise to 206
HONG KONG - Streptococcus suis infections in Sichuan have grown to 206, with 43 laboratory confirmed. Among the patients, 38 have died and 26 have been discharged from hospital.
The Centre for Health Protection will monitor the situation, and reminded people to observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene, particularly when travelling in rural areas, and to see a doctor if symptoms appear.
For the latest information on disease outbreaks in other places and preventive measures, visit the Travellers' Health Service website. More information on Streptococcus suis is available from the centre's website.
Source: Hong Kong Government - 5th August 2005
UI research finds many similarities between swine and human genomes
ILLINOIS - Researchers at the University of Illinois have been comparing the genetics of pigs and humans and they find some striking similarities.
The information they found comparing the two species' genomes -- or D-N-A maps -- eventually could give medical researchers information they need to develop treatments for clogged arteries, cancer or other human diseases.
Researchers Lawrence Schook and Jonathan Beever have prepared a map that compares how human genes match up with pig genes much more closely than before.
Beever says it shows at least 173 places on pig and human chromosomes where the genes match.
Source: KWQC
China tightens pork industry amid pig-borne disease
BEIJING - China has ordered tighter controls on the slaughter and sale of pigs to curb the spread of a virulent strain of a swine-borne illness that has killed 38 people, some within as little as two hours of infection, the government said Thursday.
Officials and farmers who fail to obey will be "punished severely by law,'' the Commerce Ministry said on its website.
The order came after reports last week that some officials failed to enforce a ban on the export of pork from areas in the southwestern province of Sichuan where the deaths occurred. The reports said the officials were dismissed but didn't say whether they would face other punishment.
Source: CTV