Pigs slaughtered after swine fever oubreak in Germany

BERLIN - German authorities have ordered the slaughter of some 2,600 pigs following an outbreak of classical swine fever, officials said.

The disease, contagious among animals but not transmissible to humans, was identified in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

On Friday 300 animals were killed at Haltern, in the Ruhr, after the outbreak, the first in Germany for almost three years, was discovered on two farms, the regional ministry said.

On Saturday 1,300 more animals on four farms were killed while a further 1,000 are due to be slaughtered on two nearby farms.

"We remain very vigilant to control the epidemic," said regional Agriculture Minister Eckhard Uhlenberg.

Classical swine fever is found in pigs and wild boar and is highly contagious. It is passed on through excrement or saliva but does not infect other species, including humans.

In 1997-98 an outbreak led to the slaughter of 1.2 million animals.

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Source: Yahoo! UK Limited

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