29 April 2009

Pork exports hit by panic

The following is excerpted from today's edition of the “Toronto Star”.

The fear of eating pork spread globally yesterday even though public health authorities insist there is no evidence that the new swine flu strain can be caught from bacon or any other food.

That did not stop Ukraine from banning live hogs and pork products from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. South Korea banned swine from all three countries but is still testing pork products, and veterinary authorities in Croatia reported a ban on all imports of live hogs from North and South America.

International Trade Minister Stockwell Day decried the move….

The Canadian Pork Council sent an open letter to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq yesterday asking her to change the name of the virus to "North American influenza."

The CFIA has also asked private veterinarians and hog producers to be on the alert for any flu-like illness in Canadian swineherds and send any samples to the National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases in Winnipeg. So far, nothing has shown up….