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Malaysian Hog Virus Resurfaces
Health authorities put eight hog farms in eastern Malaysia under quarantine after tests showed some pigs could be infected with a virus that killed more than 100 people last year, news reports said Wednesday.
The discovery in Sarawak state on Borneo island came during routine blood tests on pigs, agricultural official David Teng Lung Chi told The Sun daily.
Such tests were ordered after last year's outbreak of Nipah virus that destroyed pig farms across Malaysia, the region's largest pork producer. Nearly 1 million pigs had to be killed to contain the deadly new strain of viral encephalitis.
Last month, authorities ordered the killing of 1,700 pigs in northern Penang state to prevent a recurrence of the disease.
Any hog farm found with even one infected pig must destroy its entire stock. Owners of the farms in Sarawak were barred Tuesday from transporting pigs anywhere until investigations were completed.
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