COTABATO, Philippines, Feb. 9 (Chinese media) -- An outbreak of cholera killed at
least 240 hogs in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, a health
official said on Monday.
The outbreak was detected in the remote villages near the Malitubog River
in the townships of Alamada, Aleosan, and Midsayap, according to Dr. Enrico
Garzon, a local veterinary officer.
Garzon said hog traders and raisers in the region have been informed of
what they would do to counter the disease.
"We suspect contaminated water caused the outbreak," Garzon said.
Hog cholera is a contagious disease transmitted through direct contact
between healthy swine and infected swine.
Local officials warned people against eating meat from infected animals, as
antibiotics used to cure them could be harmful to human beings.
The cholera broke out months after health officials found a strain of Ebola
virus among hogs at some northern farms in the country. It was the first time in
the world that the Ebola virus was found on the swine, a food-producing animal
category.
Last month, the Philippine health authorities also reported that three pig
farm workers and a slaughterhouse worker have been found infected with the
Ebola-Reston virus.
Ebola-Reston, unlike its African counterparts which are proven deadly to
humans, was first found on monkeys shipped from the Philippines to Reston,
Virginia, the United States in 1989.
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