VZCZCXRO0953
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0543/01 1300856
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100856Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6032
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0948
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000543 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL 
USDA FOR FAS/ITP AND FAS/FAA 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI EAGR EINV CH
SUBJECT: South China Pig Deaths Raise Safety Concerns 
 
 
 (U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: An epidemic outbreak in pigs in rural Guangdong, 
caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus 
(PRRSV), has killed several hundred pigs in Guangdong's Yunfu 
Prefecture and the county-level-city of Gaoyao since late April. 
The Prefectural Government excluded the possibility of a large scale 
outbreak; the virus has been in China since 1995 with isolated 
outbreaks.  Measures have been taken to monitor and prevent the 
spread of the disease and the Government said the situation is under 
control.  Public concern would have been minimized had the 
government at all levels been more transparent regarding the 
situation and the actions they had taken.  Post has confirmed with 
both U.S. veterinarians and epidemiologists that this disease has 
not been associated with a risk to humans.  End summary. 
 
Only 300 dead pigs, not 80 per cent of the total 
------------------- ---------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) Hong Kong media reported on May 7 that, in Yunfu's Silao 
Town in Guangdong Province, an large- epidemic outbreak killed 80 
percent of the pigs in the area.  The local Chinese government was 
criticized for providing little information about the outbreak. 
Chinese official media published articles claiming the original 
report exaggerated the number of dead pigs and provided more 
background about the epidemic situation and the Government's 
response.  Chen Jinhai, Director-General of Yunfu Municipality's 
Foreign Affairs Office, told Consular staff to refer to official 
media for details. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  According to stories in newspapers published by the 
Nanfang Daily Group, which is under the direct control of the 
Guangdong CPC Committee, as well as in the independent New Express 
newspaper on May 7 and 8 respectively, the outbreak occurred on 
April 23.  Yang Weixin, the Executive Chief of Silao Town, said 300 
out of the total 10,000 pigs raised in Silao died in the outbreak. 
A local farmer named Zhang was quoted saying that the number of dead 
pigs was well below 80%.  The number of dead pigs in Gaoyao City, 
neighboring Silao Town, is still uncertain. 
 
PRRSV the culprit 
----------------- 
¶4. (U) According to the Chinese media stories, the Guangdong 
Provincial Government and Yunfu Municipal Governments have sent 
experts to investigate the outbreak.  On May 10, results of the 
government's testing of diseased pigs were released to confirm 
porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) was the 
cause of the deaths. The Guangdong Provincial Agricultural Bureau 
announced that the pigs died of "high pathogenic porcine blue ear" 
virus which later also led to bacteria infection.  The "blue pig 
ear" was introduced to China from Europe and American in mid 1990s. 
The announcement also said the PRRS virus cannot spread from animals 
to people, encouraged people to report further outbreaks to the 
Agricultural Bureau, and noted that a vaccine has already passed 
official testing and will be available soon. 
 
¶5. (U) The Yunfu Government is reported to have been disinfecting 
local sites where the dead pigs were reported, as well as local 
markets and butchery areas.  It also delivered antibiotics to pig 
farms in Silao Town, where farmers were required to bury the dead 
pigs in deep pits far from water sources.  The Government said it 
would strengthen the monitoring of local farms and markets to make 
sure all dead and sick pigs will be properly disposed of and not be 
sold.  News reporters discovered some local pig farms empty of pigs 
but were told that the government had moved sick pigs from local 
farms to centralized areas for monitoring and disposal. 
 
¶6. (U) The dead pigs were reported to show syndromes of high fever, 
tics, anorexia and red or dark blue ears before their deaths.  Hong 
Kong media said many pigs also showed resistance to antibiotics. 
According to the New Express story, government officials believe the 
disease is caused by lax disease prevention measures in small pig 
farms.  One local feeds seller named Li also said dead pigs were 
only found in small farms near fish ponds, while large farms did not 
have problems. 
 
What is PRRSV? 
-------------- 
¶7. (SBU) PRRSV first surfaced as a disease in the United States in 
1987 in the U.S., but was not identified until 1991, and arrived in 
China in 1995.  The virus, while described in various reports as the 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000543  002 OF 002 
 
 
most widespread and economically important disease for the pork 
industry in the United States and China, has not received much 
publicity in the past.  National Institute of Health studies note 
that most Chinese isolates are related to the North American strain 
but there are a few related to European isolates.  Reports on the 
National Institutes of Health, Biosecurity Center, and U.S. Animal 
Experimental Research Station (Nimss) websites have concluded that 
PRRSV does not represent a danger to humans at this time. USG human 
and animal health experts in country both confirm that there is no 
known associated risk to humans. 
 
GOLDBERG