Latest Pig Industry News
Hong Kong butcher infected by pig-borne disease
CHINA - A Hong Kong butcher has contracted a pig-borne disease that has infected over 200 people and killed 39 in southwest China, triggering calls for the city's government to expand curbs on pork imports from the mainland.
The 44-year-old man, who was not identified, is the fourth person to become infected with the Streptococcus suis bacteria in Hong Kong since the outbreak in China was first reported in June, and the ninth person to catch the disease in the city this year.
The report of the new infection comes as fears grow that the disease has spread from Sichuan province to other parts of China, which supplies much of Hong Kong's food.
"The infected pork would have arrived at many kitchens here, putting many housewives at risk," infectious disease expert Lo Wing-lok told Reuters on Wednesday.
"If information is not forthcoming from the mainland, the Hong Kong government should err on the safe side and ban imports from more regions in China."
The butcher worked at Wellcome Supermarket, a leading Hong Kong supermarket chain.
The latest food crisis comes as Hong Kong remains on high alert for a deadly strain of bird flu that has hit southeast Asia and parts of China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The H5N1 virus, which made the first known jump from birds to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, has killed more than 50 people across Asia.
TOO SCARED OF CHINA TO OFFEND?
On Monday, Hong Kong suspended imports of frozen pork from the central Chinese province of Henan and the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. Chinese authorities have not explained why they recalled a large amount of pork from Shenzhen, which originated from Henan.
The government has repeatedly rejected calls to halt imports of live pigs from China, saying they come from registered farms and are tested by veterinarians when they arrive.
Hong Kong's government refused to ban pork imports from Sichuan at the start of the outbreak, and admitted later that it chose not to do so because it did not want to jeopardise relations with China. It was only later that Chinese authorities suspended exports of Sichuan pork.
A spokeswoman for Wellcome said the supermarket chain buys its pork from a Hong Kong government slaughterhouse, which in turn gets its supplies from Ng Fung Hong, the city's major distributor of imported pork from China.
The spokeswoman said sales of pork had been suspended at the branch where the butcher worked but the meat was still on sale at its other locations.
"We're still trying to investigate how the butcher got infected," she told Reuters.
Calls to Ng Fung Hong, which is owned by Hong Kong-listed China Resources Enterprise Ltd., were not answered.
The Hong Kong man had not travelled to China recently but had earlier cut his finger, the Health Department said, urging people to wear gloves when handling pigs or raw pork.
He was admitted to hospital on Tuesday with fever and pain in his finger and left thigh and is now in stable condition.
Although the outbreak in China and infections in Hong Kong have led to a fall in sales of pork here, some consumers do not appear to be unduly worried. Pork is a staple meat in Chinese communities and is used in many soups and dishes.
"We just cook it longer now but we still buy it," said housewife Betty Ching as she checked out a well-stocked pork counter at a Wellcome store in eastern Hong Kong island.
Those who have contracted the disease in Sichuan had slaughtered, handled or eaten infected pigs, though scientists say the bacteria can be killed if meat is thoroughly cooked.
Streptococcus suis is endemic in most pig-rearing countries but human infections are rare. Although China's state media have said no human-to-human infections have been found in Sichuan, the infection rate and death toll is considered unusually high.
Source: Reuters - 17th August 2005
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