Egyptian Pig Farmers Suffer From Swine Flu

The confusion over the severity, and possible spread, of Swine Flu continues. Depending on what papers or articles you read, which television coverage you watch or what you have seen through the internet, a multitude of conclusions can be drawn. But they all seem to share a common theme, and that is of confusion and doubt. Last week we wrote about the possible effect this predicted pandemic could have on the British pork industry, both good and bad could be drawn.

Good being that with the levels of regulation in this country, and the respect that the British farmers enjoy, people looking for a quality reared meat might opt for insisting on British produce, regardless of cost. A situation that British farmers may be welcome of, regardless of how it came about.

The possible negative could be panic over the consumption of pork, and a knee jerk reaction by some of the population to remove it from their diet, completely. Fears like this have been quelled by both The World Health Organisation, and our own Environment Secretary, Hillary Benn. Reiterating that it is not possible to pass this flu by the consumption of properly cooked pork, and that there are no cases of this disease being present in the EU, and ongoing continual testing ensues that if it does appear, the affected stocks will be removed from the food chain.

There were some warnings issued about cheap illegal imports, and the health of such animals, but this was probably just a good opportunity to hammer home that advice.

But, rather more predictably, in foreign climes the reaction to Swine Flu has not been so consistent and clear. In Egypt the government ordered the slaughter of all its country’s pigs. Despite no reported or confirm cases of Swine Flu in the country, the decision was taken to get rid of all the nation’s pigs. Understandably this decision was met with a lot of anger, and there were clashes in Cairo between police and protesters, concerned about this apparent overreaction by the government to slaughter an estimated 300,000 pigs.

Initially the decision was announced as a precaution to prevent a spread of Swine Flu, a move condemned by many experts, who confirmed this action would be completely inappropriate and pointless. However the Egyptian government later conceded that they had used this reason as motivation, and a smoke screen, to attack bigger issues.

Agriculture minister, Saber Abdel Aziz Galal told Agence France-Presse, that wholesale changes were required for the future of pig breeding in the country, and that current conditions were unacceptable. “At the moment the pigs live with dogs, cats, rats, poultry and humans, all in the same area with rubbish. Within two years the pigs will return, but we need first to build new farms,” he said.