Govt Urged To Suspend Pig Imports From Mainland

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong is calling for pig imports from the mainland to be suspended until the outbreak of African swine fever there is over.

Her call came a day after local authorities detected the virus in a pig that was imported from the mainland -- the second such case within a month.

Wong criticised the surveillance work of mainland authorities, saying they should have stopped the sick pigs from being exported to Hong Kong.

She said the government has to compensate pig traders tens of millions of dollars again for culling thousands of pigs at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse.

She said she didn't want to see the same thing happen again.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan announced on Friday evening that all 4,700 pigs at the government-owned slaughterhouse would be culled.

The sale of pork is expected to be affected as the slaughterhouse will need to be closed for disinfection work, which will take four days.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong culled 6,000 pigs at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse after the SAR's first reported case of the disease that has swept the mainland in recent months.

The outbreak has devastated pork supplies on the mainland since the first case was recorded in August. By some estimates, one million pigs have been culled.

The disease is deadly to pigs but does not affect humans.