UN scientist warns of devastating pig disease

Agence France-Presse, Rome

A scientist with the UN food agency sounded a warning Friday about the global spread of a deadly pig disease that is having a devastating effect on herds and has puzzled experts who have failed to find a cure.

"It is a worry. The disease is getting worse and we don't know what to do about it," said Dr Peter Roeder, an animal health officer specializing in virology at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

"I'm sure it will be the final nail in the coffin of some pig farmers," Roeder told AFP.

Scientists are also concerned that Post-weaning Multi- systematic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) could spread to Asia.

"It's a disease that occurs mainly in intensive pig production systems, and will be a big concern to big producers in Thailand, Vietnam and China. I know that China is very worried about it," said Roeder.

The wasting disease is present in many countries, including Britain, where it has cut a swath through an estimated 40 percent of the national herd in an industry brought to its knees by the foot and mouth outbreak earlier this year.

"It really is a very serious problem for pig farmers in the UK," he added.

Though the virus was first identified in Canada in 1991, to date there is no vaccine available, nor effective treatment. Scientists say the best prevention is good husbandry practices.

They have stressed it poses no threat to humans.

"It's such a factor now because there is a lot of attention on epidemic disease after the foot-and-mouth outbreak," the UN scientist said.

"The pig industry had been hoping to start making a recovery and now it is being hit by this.

"The U.S. could now introduce an embargo on pig products from Europe," he said.

Roeder said that although he was involved with developing countries, the disease posed less of a problem for the village producers typical of poorer countries.

A complication was that PMWS appears to be closely linked to another disease called Porcine Dermatitis Nephropathy Syndrome (PDNS), "which is also probably caused by the same virus."

That virus has been identified as Circo Virus 2, but scientists are at a loss to explain what activates it in animals, though Roeder suspects it may be something introduced by vaccines against other diseases -- standard practice in intensive production.

"Virus plus host doesn't cause disease unless there is another factor. What that is we don't know."