CHINA-PIG ILLNESS DIAGNOSED AS BLUE EAR.
Blue ear disease caused the recent deaths of 1,056 pigs in Hongdong County in north China’s Shanxi Province, local authorities said Monday, according to Xinhua News Agency.
According to an official with the provincial agricultural bureau, experts went to the scene Saturday to conduct autopsies and the lab of the Shanxi provincial center for animal disease control and prevention reached its diagnosis Monday.
The animals belonged to 65 households in 10 villages. About 80 percent of the dead animals were less than one month old, Xinhua quoted Qiao Yongsheng, deputy head of Hongdong County, as saying.
China imported record amounts of pork in 2008 after widespread blue ear disease in 2007 depleted domestic supplies. Since then, the Chinese government has funded incentives that have helped rebuild the hog supply by expanding large hog operations.