Dead Pig Tests Negative For Swine Flu

Officials say a dead pig discovered on a Cheung Chau beach on Thursday was not infected with African swine fever.

The Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department tested the animal amid fears the disease - which is harmless to humans but fatal for pigs - may spread from the mainland. China has had to kill hundreds of thousands of pigs due to a widespread swine fever outbreak.

At the end of December, a dead pig was found on a beach in Taiwan's Kinmen Islands and Taipei said the animal later tested positive for swine fever. Nearby farms were found not to have been affected.

A second pig found on the shoreline, however, did not have the deadly illness, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported, adding that the pig was believed to have washed up on the beach because there were no farms in the vicinity.

The Kinmen Islands lie less than 10 kilometres from Fujian province, where swine fever was discovered in December according to mainland authorities. Pigs in Guangdong province have also been found to have the virus. .

On Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency reported that 916,000 pigs had been culled on the mainland due to swine fever outbreaks in 24 regions since August last year.