Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
China: New form of blue-ear virus causing pig deaths - Summary
Beijing - A deadly disease spreading among pigs in China is caused by a new variant of the blue-ear virus, China's top veterinary official said Monday. Jia Youling, director of the veterinary office in China's Agriculture Ministry, said the current form of the virus is more deadly and contagious than the blue-ear virus initially discovered in China in the 1990s.
That original virus had affected only sows and piglets, but the virus is now striking boars, he said.
The blue-ear virus has swept through 26 of China's 33 provinces and regions, but veterinary officials and farmers are fighting back with immunizations and culls, Jia said in Beijing.
The disease has caused numerous pig deaths and has driven up pork prices in the world's largest pork producer, but Jia said a test for the virus and a vaccine had already been developed and production was being conducted at 12 factories.
More than 100 million of China's 500 million pigs - half the world's population - have been immunized so far, Jia said, adding that the central and local governments were bearing the cost of the vaccinations.
Those governments have reported 257,000 cases of blue-ear disease this year, of which 68,000 pigs have died. Another 175,000 have been culled. But unconfirmed reports said millions of pigs have died.
Blue-ear disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, usually produces elevated temperatures, lethargy and reduced appetite in breeding sows. Bruising may also occur, sometimes giving their ears a blue appearance. The disease is also often deadly in piglets and raises the incidence of premature births, stillbirths and weak piglets.
The new variant of the virus also attacks the immune system, Jia said, making infected animals susceptible to secondary infections.
Jia insisted that China has brought the virus under control and rejected concerns that the government is not divulging the full extent of the outbreak, given its belated disclosures of the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002.
He said his ministry is keeping the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health informed of the latest developments and, while China has not called for an investigation into the virus by international bodies, it was prepared to cooperate with such agencies and hold talks on the disease.
Jia insisted, however, that China was capable of handling the disease outbreak on its own.
China's top veterinarian said samples of the blue-ear vaccine have been sent to Vietnam, seven of whose 64 provinces have also been hit by the disease.
Although the disease is not transmissible to humans, according to Jia and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the people of China have been affected by skyrocketing prices for a staple of the Chinese diet.
The cost of pork has risen 75 per cent in June from the same month a year earlier, thanks in part to blue-ear disease, but also because many farmers have stopped raising pigs because of rising feed prices.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/95691.html
Beijing - A deadly disease spreading among pigs in China is caused by a new variant of the blue-ear virus, China's top veterinary official said Monday. Jia Youling, director of the veterinary office in China's Agriculture Ministry, said the current form of the virus is more deadly and contagious than the blue-ear virus initially discovered in China in the 1990s.
That original virus had affected only sows and piglets, but the virus is now striking boars, he said.
The blue-ear virus has swept through 26 of China's 33 provinces and regions, but veterinary officials and farmers are fighting back with immunizations and culls, Jia said in Beijing.
The disease has caused numerous pig deaths and has driven up pork prices in the world's largest pork producer, but Jia said a test for the virus and a vaccine had already been developed and production was being conducted at 12 factories.
More than 100 million of China's 500 million pigs - half the world's population - have been immunized so far, Jia said, adding that the central and local governments were bearing the cost of the vaccinations.
Those governments have reported 257,000 cases of blue-ear disease this year, of which 68,000 pigs have died. Another 175,000 have been culled. But unconfirmed reports said millions of pigs have died.
Blue-ear disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, usually produces elevated temperatures, lethargy and reduced appetite in breeding sows. Bruising may also occur, sometimes giving their ears a blue appearance. The disease is also often deadly in piglets and raises the incidence of premature births, stillbirths and weak piglets.
The new variant of the virus also attacks the immune system, Jia said, making infected animals susceptible to secondary infections.
Jia insisted that China has brought the virus under control and rejected concerns that the government is not divulging the full extent of the outbreak, given its belated disclosures of the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002.
He said his ministry is keeping the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health informed of the latest developments and, while China has not called for an investigation into the virus by international bodies, it was prepared to cooperate with such agencies and hold talks on the disease.
Jia insisted, however, that China was capable of handling the disease outbreak on its own.
China's top veterinarian said samples of the blue-ear vaccine have been sent to Vietnam, seven of whose 64 provinces have also been hit by the disease.
Although the disease is not transmissible to humans, according to Jia and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the people of China have been affected by skyrocketing prices for a staple of the Chinese diet.
The cost of pork has risen 75 per cent in June from the same month a year earlier, thanks in part to blue-ear disease, but also because many farmers have stopped raising pigs because of rising feed prices.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/95691.html
ffice:smarttags" /><st1
lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Jia Youling</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
<o
