Pig disease kills humans in Vietnam

Vietnam News Agency was cited as reporting that 22 people, most from northern areas, have been taken to a Hanoi hospital so far this year after they fell sick from the Streptococcus suis bacteria.


Two of the infected had died, according to the news service, without giving more details.


Vietnamese doctors were cited as saying people infected by the bacteria suffer from rapid internal haemorrhage and high fever after they eat pork from a sick pig or inhale the air near the sick swine.


Spread of PRRS
Meanwhile, the PRRS recently reported in the Vietnamese Quang Nam Province has spread to the central province of Quang Ngai and the city of Da Nang, said the Animal Health Department yesterday.


Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Truong Quang Viet was cited as saying seven pigs have died and nearly 60 others have become ill from Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in Nghia Trung Commune, Tu Nghia District.


The director said that “the alarming thing is farmers have quickly sold these diseased pigs at low prices.”


Related news item:
• Pig breeders in central provinces ignoring ban (23 July 2007)


Related website:
• Vietnam News Agency


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