Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) The death toll in an outbreak of pig-borne disease in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan has risen to 24, with another 117 thought to be sick, state media reported on 27th July. The number of reported cases also rose substantially from the former 80 reported. The Sichuan mortality rate stands at 17% so far, higher than the usual 10%, experts in Hong Kong said.
According to the World Health Organisation, the mortality rate raised at almost 25 per cent.
Streptococcus suis type II is a relatively widespread pig-borne bacteria but human infections are rare. Prior to the current outbreak, only 200 cases had been recorded globally.
According to the Sichuan Animal Husbandry and Food Bureau, the 469 pigs killed by the disease were scattered across about 300 small farms.
In Hong Kong, a government source said more than 60 per cent of the city's pigs carried the streptococcus suis bacteria, but their meat was fit for consumption as long as they showed no symptoms of the disease.
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok yesterday reiterated that there was no need to ban imports of frozen pork from Sichuan. "We have proved that neither pigs nor staff from the pig farms in Sichuan that supply us with frozen pork were sick," he said.
Hong Kong University associate professor of microbiology Ho Pak-leung expressed concern over the virulence of streptococcus suis in Sichuan. "It is unusual because this infection has never been reported in the literature to cause large outbreaks in humans," he said. Lu Chengping , a veterinarian professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, also said the high number of human infections was unusual, but added it was easier for Chinese farmers to contract the disease as pigs were raised in small holdings rather than in large farms, as in western countries.
The Guangdong State administration has allocated a record 39.1 million yuan for epidemic control this year. Guangdong is the State where the SARS outbreak started in 2003-2004. Guangdong has spent 67.8 million yuan during the past five years to improve its animal quarantine network.
