Vietnam fights pig, pork smuggling over China disease fears
HANOI - Vietnam has ordered a crackdown on the smuggling of pork and live pigs from China to prevent the spread of a mystery disease that has killed 37 people, an official said. Government agencies were asked to work with northern provinces bordering China to ensure the order was carried out, said an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development who asked not to be named.
"If live pigs and pork products are detected being smuggled from China into the localities, these products must be destroyed immediately," the official said, quoting a ministry order.
The mysterious pig-born epidemic, reportedly caused by the streptococcus suis bacteria, has so far affected 188 villages in Sichuan province in southwestern China.
Thirty-seven people have been killed and the number of cases has increased to 205, health officials said on Tuesday.
Experts say butchering and eating infected pork is the only way for humans to catch the disease.
Agence France Presse - August 03, 2005.
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