- ROME (Reuters) - A new deadly
pig disease could spread from Europe as far as Asia and Latin America and
countries should be extremely cautious over imports, an animal health officer
with the United Nations food body said on Friday.
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- Peter Roeder, animal health officer who oversees viral
diseases for the Food and Agriculture Organization, said the risk of Post-weaning
Multi-systematic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) could grow.
-
- ``The disease could spread to areas that have intensive
pig production systems, such as the Far East and Latin America,'' Roeder
told Reuters.
-
- ``Countries should be extremely careful about bringing
into the country pigs from any source, and they should conduct risk assessment,''
he added.
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- Roeder urged countries to ensure that their animal health
professionals were aware of the disease.
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- PMWS is believed to have spread across 40 percent of
England's pig herd and is expected to kill thousands more animals in what
vets say could be the ``final blow'' for some dispirited UK farmers.
-
- Coming at what officials hope is the end of a devastating
foot-and-mouth epidemic and just months after Britain fought swine fever,
the new disease has hit hard an industry reeling from the effects of low
prices and a strong pound.
-
- Roeder said the spread of the disease, which can cause
sudden death in pigs or leave them listless and gaunt, had already reached
epidemic proportions in Britain and had no known cure.
-
- He said the disease, associated with the Circo 2 virus,
was already present in continental Europe and can be spread by contact
between animals, such as the transport of pigs around the world for breeding
stock.
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- In Britain, PMWS had wiped out profits at infected farms,
said Roeder, just back from a fact-finding mission there.
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- British producers have already lost 21 million pounds
this year due to increased mortality and feeding costs to get surviving
pigs back up to a marketable weight.
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- Roeder said that more research was needed to find out
about the causes of the disease and ways to treat it.
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