The death toll in China from a mysterious pig-borne disease continued to rise, with several more cities affected, statistics showed yesterday, despite the government saying that the epidemic was under control.
The number of people killed by the streptococcus suis bacteria, which is usually spread among pigs, rose to 32 while the number of cases increased to 163, according to the health ministry's Web site.
That was one more death and 11 more cases than on Friday.
While some suspected cases had tested negative, more suspected or confirmed cases were being found, with a significant number of people still in hospital, 24 of them in critical condition.
Only 11 have been treated and released, the ministry said.
The epidemic first discovered last month was now affecting 155 villages in seven cities in Sichuan Province, including the provincial capital Chengdu, up from two cities initially, according to the ministry.
Still, it said the new cases were not necessarily new infections, but were discovered due to strengthened detection by health authorities.
Four officials from Ziyang city, where many of the infected pigs and humans were found, have been dismissed for dereliction of duty, China Daily said yesterday.
The communist party chief and deputy chief of Dongfeng town were fired after failing to prevent a farmer from butchering sick pigs. The farmer is still in hospital.
A quarantine official in Qingfeng town was sacked for allowing pigs to be transported outside an affected village despite a ban against pig and pork exports. Details of the fourth official were not disclosed, the report said.
Health Minister Gao Qiang (高強), who visited Sichuan this week, said on Thursday that the disease was "under control," but the World Health Organization (WHO) disagreed.
A team of 49 experts has been sent to affected areas to treat patients, the Beijing News said, but no effective medicine has been found -- one reason for the high death rate of one in five.
Agriculture Minister Du Qinglin (
So far all the officially reported cases are in Sichuan, China's largest pig-producing province.
A suspected case was reported in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, but it originated from a southwestern province, the Xinhua news agency cited the health department as saying, without elaborating.
The epidemic has alarmed people as far away as Beijing.
Health inspectors there surveyed markets this week, checking for and destroying suspect pork. They also checked live pigs entering the capital for the bacteria and so far found no suspect swine, the Beijing News said.
Victims contracted the bacteria from slaughtering or processing infected pigs or handling infected pork, state media had quoted experts saying. Many had open wounds which allowed the bacteria to enter their blood stream.
Symptoms include high fever, vomiting and hemorrhaging, with many patients going into severe shock.
The WHO has said it was baffled because if the epidemic was caused by the bacteria, it would be the first time it had struck so many people at one time. Normally, only one or two cases of the rare disease are seen.
Sichuan officials have launched a campaign to educate poor, illiterate farmers not to slaughter sick pigs or eat their meat.
More than 2 million notices have been issued in affected areas informing farmers of the dangers, the China Daily reported yesterday, quoting a vice mayor of Ziyang, near Chengdu.
About 50,000 health workers and officials have been sent out to inspect and register every pig, and authorities have set up 39 roadside quarantine stations to stop dead pigs from reaching markets.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS