SHANGHAI, March 11 (UPI) — Nearly 3,000 dead pigs found floating in China’s Huangpu River in Shanghai died from porcine circovirus, Shanghai Agriculture Committee said Monday.
The committee posted its findings on its blog Monday, saying the disease has been common in pigs in recent years, China Daily reported.
Shanghai Animal Diseases Control and Prevention Center collected five samples from the dead pigs, including their hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, lymph nodes and tonsils to test for viral pathogens and found the porcine circovirus.
The virus is not transmittable to humans, the newspaper said.
Since Thursday, more than 2,800 dead pigs had been found in the river, which has caused concern because the river is also a source of drinking water, The New York Times reported.
“Is this water still drinkable after dead pigs were found floating in it?” local resident Liu Wanqing, 60, said. “The government has a responsibility to conduct a thorough investigation and provide safe water to residents.”
Officials in the area said they have been monitoring the drinking water in the Songjiang area and it meets safety standards. However, the water is being closely monitored and immediate measures will be taken if any contamination is found, officials said.
Ear tags on the pigs showed that they were from farms in Jiaxing and Pinghu in Zhejiang province and some areas of Jiangsu province, China Daily reported.
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