"Hey wait, I'm not Chinese..."
Posted on 08/20/2007 7:32:22 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
(BEIJING) - Local authorities may have covered up outbreaks of a disease that has killed tens of thousands of pigs in China, the nation's chief vet said yesterday, but insisted there was no cause for panic.
The highly infectious blue-ear pig disease has killed 68,000 pigs across China and led to another 175,000 being slaughtered, said Jia Youling, chief veterinary officer at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Some Western press reports have said the number of infected pigs is much higher than the government has made public, citing the dramatic spike in pork prices in China this year as evidence.
"Although there may be some cover-ups (by local authorities), it is absolutely impossible the figure could be as big as several thousand, millions or 10 million as reported by the media," Jia said. "Panic was caused because people didn't know (it was) blue-ear disease and had no idea how to deal with it. But it doesn't mean the number of infected pigs is huge."
In reply to criticism that China didn't send tissue samples to laboratories outside the country, Jia said no such request had been received, but authorities would be happy to cooperate.
"If international organizations submit their request and it's not for commercial purposes, I think we will reach agreement as soon as possible. We will cooperate and supply (the samples)," he said.
Jia said that an effective vaccine had been developed and distributed to the regions most seriously hit and that the spread of the disease was now under "preliminary control."
He said more than 100 million pigs had been vaccinated.
"So far, no blue-ear disease has been found in places that have done the vaccination," he said.
Jia said China last year had 500 million pigs, the staple meat in most Chinese diets, in stock.
China was heavily criticized in 2003 for initially covering up the SARS disease.
Oh, boy...here come the pictures! This thread should be interesting!
China cover something up … no way.
This could also be said about the pet deaths in the USA from Chinese pet food.
-PJ
Well, no. Who would have expected China to cover something up?
My mom used to eat pickled pigs feet when I was a kid.
To this day...there are few things that seem grosser to me than that!
My mom ate some strange stuff. She served us tripe in red sauce one time when I was a kid living at the Naval Base in Yokouska, Japan.
As a kid, there are few foods more alien looking than tripe. It looked like they peeled off an alien’s skin and sliced it into strips, boiled it to a rubbery consistence, then dashed it with what looked like blood. We looked at my mother as if she were mad...as the Blue Danube china tureen came around the table.
Not a single one of us touched it. My mom was so pissed!
I love the eel though. That was good. I also passed on the goose paw.
I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and blue eared ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
BOYCOTT CHINA!!!!!!
If the "er, ah, regular people" ever wake up, these "best and brightest" may find themselves wallowing in the pig sty they created for us.
Soylent Green: Heston takes a couple of puffs from a woman's cigarette, sighing contentedly, I'd smoke a couple of these a week if I could afford it.
In the current shrunken world of air travel, illegal immigration devoid of any quarantines or health checks and the unmonitored Global Economy — eventually they will reach you..
"Hey wait, I'm not Chinese..."
BTTT
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