South China Pig Deaths Raise Safety Concerns

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SUBJECT: South China Pig Deaths Raise Safety Concerns


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1. (SBU) Summary: An epidemic outbreak in pigs in rural Guangdong,
caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
(PRRSV),has killed several hundred pigs in Guangdong's Yunfu
Prefecture and the county-level-city of Gaoyao since late April.
The Prefectural Government excluded the possibility of a large scale
outbreak; the virus has been in China since 1995 with isolated
outbreaks. Measures have been taken to monitor and prevent the
spread of the disease and the Government said the situation is under
control. Public concern would have been minimized had the
government at all levels been more transparent regarding the
situation and the actions they had taken. Post has confirmed with
both U.S. veterinarians and epidemiologists that this disease has
not been associated with a risk to humans. End summary.

Only 300 dead pigs, not 80 per cent of the total
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2. (SBU) Hong Kong media reported on May 7 that, in Yunfu's Silao
Town in Guangdong Province, an large- epidemic outbreak killed 80
percent of the pigs in the area. The local Chinese government was
criticized for providing little information about the outbreak.
Chinese official media published articles claiming the original
report exaggerated the number of dead pigs and provided more
background about the epidemic situation and the Government's
response. Chen Jinhai, Director-General of Yunfu Municipality's
Foreign Affairs Office, told Consular staff to refer to official
media for details.


3. (SBU) According to stories in newspapers published by the
Nanfang Daily Group, which is under the direct control of the
Guangdong CPC Committee, as well as in the independent New Express
newspaper on May 7 and 8 respectively, the outbreak occurred on
April 23. Yang Weixin, the Executive Chief of Silao Town, said 300
out of the total 10,000 pigs raised in Silao died in the outbreak.
A local farmer named Zhang was quoted saying that the number of dead
pigs was well below 80%. The number of dead pigs in Gaoyao City,
neighboring Silao Town, is still uncertain.

PRRSV the culprit
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4. (U) According to the Chinese media stories, the Guangdong
Provincial Government and Yunfu Municipal Governments have sent
experts to investigate the outbreak. On May 10, results of the
government's testing of diseased pigs were released to confirm
porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) was the
cause of the deaths. The Guangdong Provincial Agricultural Bureau
announced that the pigs died of "high pathogenic porcine blue ear"
virus which later also led to bacteria infection. The "blue pig
ear" was introduced to China from Europe and American in mid 1990s.
The announcement also said the PRRS virus cannot spread from animals
to people, encouraged people to report further outbreaks to the
Agricultural Bureau, and noted that a vaccine has already passed
official testing and will be available soon.


5. (U) The Yunfu Government is reported to have been disinfecting
local sites where the dead pigs were reported, as well as local
markets and butchery areas. It also delivered antibiotics to pig
farms in Silao Town, where farmers were required to bury the dead
pigs in deep pits far from water sources. The Government said it
would strengthen the monitoring of local farms and markets to make
sure all dead and sick pigs will be properly disposed of and not be
sold. News reporters discovered some local pig farms empty of pigs
but were told that the government had moved sick pigs from local
farms to centralized areas for monitoring and disposal.


6. (U) The dead pigs were reported to show syndromes of high fever,
tics, anorexia and red or dark blue ears before their deaths. Hong
Kong media said many pigs also showed resistance to antibiotics.
According to the New Express story, government officials believe the
disease is caused by lax disease prevention measures in small pig
farms. One local feeds seller named Li also said dead pigs were
only found in small farms near fish ponds, while large farms did not
have problems.

What is PRRSV?
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7. (SBU) PRRSV first surfaced as a disease in the United States in
1987 in the U.S., but was not identified until 1991, and arrived in
China in 1995. The virus, while described in various reports as the

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most widespread and economically important disease for the pork
industry in the United States and China, has not received much
publicity in the past. National Institute of Health studies note
that most Chinese isolates are related to the North American strain
but there are a few related to European isolates. Reports on the
National Institutes of Health, Biosecurity Center, and U.S. Animal
Experimental Research Station (Nimss) websites have concluded that
PRRSV does not represent a danger to humans at this time. USG human
and animal health experts in country both confirm that there is no
known associated risk to humans.

GOLDBERG