Phnom Penh (DPA)- Cambodia has banned the import of pigs from Vietnam and Thailand after swine infected with blue-ear disease were smuggled into the country from neighbouring Vietnam and infected others.
The ban was announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) on Wednesday, who also asked market vendors to keep pork prices stable.
"I would like to appeal to provincial authorities, especially provinces near the borders of Vietnam and Thailand, to suspend pig imports," Hun Sen said, warning that the disease could spread rapidly through the pig population.
Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said the outbreak had followed an order by Hanoi instructing pig farmers in neighbouring Vietnam to slaughter infected swine.
But he said some farmers had instead dumped their pigs across the border in Cambodia at knock-down prices, spreading the disease, which is also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.
Testing has revealed that hundreds of pigs have died from the disease in four provinces bordering Vietnam, and experts said blue-ear has probably spread to half of Cambodia's 24 provinces.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper the disease has the potential to cause significant losses to Cambodia's pig industry.
"We are talking somewhere between one or two million pigs, and each pig is worth about 100 dollars at market, so it's a huge industry here," said Curtis Hundley, who heads USAID's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency in Cambodia.
Most rural families in Cambodia own a pig, making pork a staple source of protein along with fish and chicken.
In 2007 Cambodia banned pig imports from Thailand and Vietnam for eight months after a similar outbreak.
The ban was announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) on Wednesday, who also asked market vendors to keep pork prices stable.
"I would like to appeal to provincial authorities, especially provinces near the borders of Vietnam and Thailand, to suspend pig imports," Hun Sen said, warning that the disease could spread rapidly through the pig population.
Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said the outbreak had followed an order by Hanoi instructing pig farmers in neighbouring Vietnam to slaughter infected swine.
But he said some farmers had instead dumped their pigs across the border in Cambodia at knock-down prices, spreading the disease, which is also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.
Testing has revealed that hundreds of pigs have died from the disease in four provinces bordering Vietnam, and experts said blue-ear has probably spread to half of Cambodia's 24 provinces.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper the disease has the potential to cause significant losses to Cambodia's pig industry.
"We are talking somewhere between one or two million pigs, and each pig is worth about 100 dollars at market, so it's a huge industry here," said Curtis Hundley, who heads USAID's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency in Cambodia.
Most rural families in Cambodia own a pig, making pork a staple source of protein along with fish and chicken.
In 2007 Cambodia banned pig imports from Thailand and Vietnam for eight months after a similar outbreak.
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