S'pore to ban pig imports from RI

S'pore to ban pig imports from RI

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Singapore will impose a week-long ban on live pig imports from both Malaysia and Indonesia, following the outbreak of a pig-linked virus that has killed more than 40 people in Malaysia.

"The disease is spread through close contact with live infected pigs" and a ban on import of live pigs "will remove the source of infection from pigs," said Chua Sim Bin, deputy director of the government's Primary Production Department (PPD).

The government will review the situation in a week.

The department will also close and disinfect Singapore's abattoirs. The import ban follows the outbreak of the Japanese encephalitis virus in Malaysian pig farms, which is transmitted from infected pigs to people via mosquitoes.

Singapore imports 1.2 million live pigs a year from Malaysia and Indonesia. The trade is worth about S$180 million yearly, given the average auction price of S$150 a pig, Chua said. Pork is a staple for Singapore's Chinese-dominated population.

Four-fifths of the imports are from Malaysia, Singapore's closest neighbor. Malaysia is estimated to have 1.6 million pigs, and the business is worth 1.5 billion ringgit (US$395 million) a year, said Lee Ah Huat, president of a pig wholesalers association in the Malaysian state of Selangor.

So far, pig farmers and abattoir workers are most at risk due to contact with live pigs. Local newspapers report that symptoms include fever, shivers and drowsiness.

In Malaysia, press reports said up to 43 people, mostly pig farmers or those living near pig farms, have died from the virus.