China halts pork exports from 2 cities
(Bloomberg/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-26 06:08

Farmers have been forbidden from slaughtering and processing infected pigs.

In normal practice, meat-processing factories examine pigs from big farms or single households before they buy them. When they refuse a pig because it is infected, sometimes the farmer will take it home and process it for consumption by his own family.

It is rare for the bacteria to infect a human being. The first ever recorded case was in Denmark in 1968, the ministry said.

Records show that at least 200 human cases of the infection have been reported, mainly in countries and regions breeding pigs and eating pork in Northern Europe and Southern Asia.

Experts are researching how the bacteria spreads from pigs to humans, said ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an.

Mao said he doubted reports that the bacteria can be spread through mosquito bites.

"If so, there would be many more people infected with the disease," Mao told China Daily.

Hong Kong and Macao health authorities have warned residents to be careful of mosquito bites if they go to Sichuan.

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