China defends handling of disease outbreak in pigs

As of Sunday, blue ear pig disease had spread to 26 Chinese provinces, killing 68,000 pigs and prompting officials to destroy an additional 175,000 pigs, said Jia Youling, chief veterinary officer with the Ministry of Agriculture.

China has so far vaccinated 100 million pigs against the disease, which is also known as highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, he said. The disease does not affect people but can be fatal for pigs.

"We have currently seen initial success in controlling the outbreak of highly pathogenic blue ear pig disease," said Jia. He added that China had been "open and transparent" about the disease and had provided regular updates to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

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