China Identifies Mystery Illness Wiping Out Pigs In Southern Region
BEIJING - The mysterious illness sweeping through pig populations in southern China, that has killed at least 300 animals, has been identified as a strain of PRRS or blue ear disease.
10 May 2007
2 minute read
The state Xinhua News Agency said that an effective vaccine has already been developed and authorities will start to administer it to pigs in Guangdong province shortly.
It said blue ear disease spread to China in the mid-1990s. The recent outbreak was caused by a new mutation.
Blue ear disease is also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome or PRRS, and was first identified in the United States in 1987, according to the Web site of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Source: International Herald Tribune
