Report: Scores of Dead Pigs Found in China

BEIJING – Scores of dead pigs have been found in a river in eastern China, but the cause of the deaths was unclear, a Hong Kong newspaper said Tuesday.

The carcasses were found in the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang over the last three months, causing health experts to worry that an outbreak of a disease might be killing the animals, the Apple Daily said.

Some 161 pigs were found in two areas in the Fujiang river in Zhejiang, the newspaper said. Health authorities in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, were investigating where the pigs came from and what caused their deaths, it said.

Officials were also worried the pigs might contaminate the river, which is a water source for several cities, it said.

Provincial health and government officials telephoned Tuesday said they were “unclear” about the situation.

The report said dead pigs had been discovered in Zhenjiang, a city in Jiangsu, since March 13. An agriculture and forestry bureau official in Zhenjiang said dead swine had been found in the city but said their carcasses “had been treated properly.” He gave only his surname, Bian, and refused to give any more details.

According to Dr. Noureddin Mona, the Beijing-based representative for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, China’s Agriculture Ministry told his agency it was investigating the report but gave no details.

A man who answered the telephone at the ministry said he could not confirm the report and hung up.

In an unusually large and lethal outbreak, Streptococcus suis, a bacteria commonly found in pigs, killed at least 38 people in the southwestern province of Sichuan and infected more than 200. The bacteria is usually passed on through contact with raw pork or sick swine.

Microbiologist Samson Wong of the University of Hong Kong said Tuesday both the foot-and-mouth virus and the bacteria Streptococcus suis can cause pig deaths in large numbers, but that other diseases are also suspect.

He said water polluted with dead pigs would not pose a health risk if boiled.