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Pig 'ebola' virus sends shock waves through global food chainDan Murtaugh and Enda Curran1 day agoWhat started with a few dozen dead pigs in northeastern China is sending shock waves through the global food chain.Last August, a farm with fewer than 400 hogs on the outskirts of Shenyang was found to harbor African swine fever, the first ever occurrence of the contagious viral disease in the country with half the world’s pigs. Forty-seven head had died, triggering emergency measures including mass culling and a blockade to stop the transportation of livestock. Within days, a government notice proclaimed the outbreak “effectively controlled.”Read More: The Deadly African Virus That’s Killing Asia’s PigsIt was too late. By then, the disease had literally gone viral, dispersed across hundreds of miles in sickened animals, contaminated food, and in dirt and dust on truck tires and clothing. Nine months later, the contagion has spread nationwide, crossed borders to Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and bolstered meat markets globally.American Easter hams cost the most in four years due to China hog disease© Bloomberg American Easter hams cost the most in four years due to China hog diseaseWhile official estimates count 1 million culled hogs, slaughter data suggest 100 times more will be removed from China’s 440 million-strong swine herd in 2019, the Chinese zodiac’s “year of the pig.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast in April a decline of 134 million head -- equivalent to the entire annual output of American pigs -- and the worst slump since the department began counting China’s pigs in the mid 1970s.Long Article, Go read the rest.and buy a pig or 4.
Turkey Bacon? Turkey Bacon? Sacrilege! Blasphemy!! Horror of horrors!Let those who say that be turned mute.Drawn and quartered, boiled in oil and burned at the stake.Let their ashes be carried in 4 directions and thrown to the winds.Let their names be nevermore spoken or remembered!Blasphemy!Nemo
