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Subscribe to RSSThousands of pigs have been found dead in a Shanghai river that is a major source of water for residents. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
BEIJING — Thousands of dead pigs, a number of them diseased, were found in Shanghai's major drinking water supply in the last two days, officials said.
According to Xinmin newspaper, 2,813 pigs were fished out of the Huangpu River, which provides drinking water for Shanghai's 23 million people. When contacted for up-to-date information on the number of pigs retrieved from the river, officials referred NBC News to the local news report.
Some of the pigs were infected with porcine circovirus (PCV) virus, according to an official statement by the Shanghai Agriculture Committee. The statement posted on China's Twitter-like social media service Weibo said that the disease would not infect humans.
A water management officer said by telephone that results of hourly water tests were normal.
"We are adding more chlorine as an action to protect water safety," said the official who would only identified herself as Zhu.
Water pollution, usually created by fertilizer run-off, chemical spills and untreated sewage, is a big problem in China. According to Reuters, the government will invest $850 billion over the next decade to improve the water supply system.
People from the Songjiang area of Shanghai, where many of the pigs were found, said this was not the first time they had seen the carcasses floating in the river.
Eugene Hoshiko / AP
A dead pig floats in a river on the outskirts of Shanghai on Monday.
"Am I scared? I have been hearing this kind of news all the time, so I am immune," said Songjiang resident Ma Leiying, 42, who works as a clerk at a state-owned company. "I’m sure other cities have the same problems, but the difference is the incidents have not been reported yet."
Some expressed outrage via Weibo.
"Have we been drinking dead-pig-polluted water? We are already panicked by the polluted air now we have to worry about poisoned water too," one user wrote.
Xinmin News, Shanghai’s most popular newspaper paper, reported that labels on some of the carcasses indicated that the animals had come from Zhejiang and Jiangshu provinces.
According to Jiaxing Daily, many pigs have died in the area in recent months. In Zhulin village alone, there were 10,078 dead pigs in January, 8,325 in February, it reported. The newspaper added that the cause of death was down to the cramped conditions the animals were kept in.
The Associated Press reported that the surge in the dumping of dead pigs came after a police campaign to curb the illegal trade in sick pig parts.
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This story was originally published on Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:14 AM EDT
Leave a Comment:
so sad... oink
Unreal!
Doesn't China have bulldozers?
They have bulldozers, how do you think they got into the river?
I wonder how many of them are going to end up on our breakfast table?
Men, nothing surprises me they are in a hurry to their doom
Anybody up for some sweet and sour pork?MMMMM!
They'll cook'em, Can'em, and send them to the USA. Coming to a Walmart near you.
Box em' up and send them to Afghanistan :)
Test results were "normal." Just wondering what is "NORMAL" according to the Chinese Gov't?
"Normal" = The water sample contained H2O
It's the aporkalypse!
I'm sure the Chinese aren't worried. The RICH ones that is.
Sad for the pigs.. But that is what they get for killing all our dogs and cats for fur.. Check out the Peta message.. Karma is a great thing...
JmB66, winning post (1.11) for the day! With all the nastiness that goes on here, we need more of this.
They are going to have to chew their water extra hard today.
Made me think of that movie Contagion.
Let's hope they don't end up with dead bats in the water too!
This made me think of when Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the possessed man and the demons entered into the herd of swine, when then ran and drown themselves in the sea...
I wonder if that happened again? maybe a possessed man got set free?
what do you think?
Matthew 8
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
I mourn my colleagues.
Dang was thinking yes pigotry down the river but here you are....
Praise the Lard..
Pigotry
First and second posts saying absolutely nothing yet again. Kinda makes me wish I was 15 years old with no life once again. Although I would suggest not wasting your youth sitting in front of a computer or soon you will actually look like a fat little piggy, assuming you don't already of course.
How many others were dumped into the US food supply?
Right?
So...at least now we're getting washed infected pig parts?
Just goes to show that they are just as corrupt as we are!
Stories such as this one pretty much convince me that we are doomed as a species. There are too many humans and too many willing to do heinous things to survive. When China actually comes into the 21st century (by this I mean when her citizens mostly reach our western affluent lifestyle) the end will probably be near.
In case you haven't heard, we live in a closed system and like ants in an enclosed ant farm, when the colony gets too big for the plastic box, ants die of disease, violence, and madness. See any correlation here?
Despair is possible but at the same time you can limit reproduction to one or zero children, vote when buying products by purchasing organic, low packaging, walk occasionally, plant a BIG garden, put a rain barrel on your house downspouts. And these are all EASY things. It wouldn't take an act of congress to change the world. Only ENOUGH people willing to be slightly inconvenienced from our 'normal' lifestyles.
"Zimmern, calling Andrew Zimmern, soups on"!!
Meanwhile Hope. elsewhere on the NBC News website we learn that the litter bearing Duggars have welcomed a third grandchild from one of their 20 some children. You're right Hope, we're doomed as a species. The dinosaurs walked the earth for 12 million years. We'll never see a quarter of that.
I was wondering exactly how much chlorine it takes to make the water sample "normal" in China.
I'm shocked that these pigs were not processed into dog food for export to America, as it is usually done in China.
These little piggy's aren't going to market.
This is what non regulation looks like.. When left to do the right thing Companies will side with Shareholder value every time. I'm all for full on capitalism but I want clean water and clean air and I will live with the additional rules..
There goes the "profit" for the doggy treats.
Wait a minute.....some folks will blame the "Chinese Smog" and then do nothing about it.
Coming to a grocery near you.. Get ready.
When they had to kill millions of chickens, China started exporting the sliced, dried chicken breast to the US for our pets. Now I suppose we will get "pork strips" to entice our furry friends. Thanks a lot whoever gets the bribe to allow it.
wetbacks!
only in China..wonder how many of them will end up in pet treats destined for the USA market??
If you buy pet treats made in China, you'll regret it. Trust me, I went through it.
They must have gotten loose from the drywall and kid's toys factories.
We don't buy any treats or food for our dogs not made in this country, it's the best way to go. One store has a large plastic jar of dog biscuits with a great price, but there is no identification on it anywhere as to its origin, so we leave it on the shelf. The old saying that you get what you pay for applies all to often if it comes from China.
I'm with you John, the pet treats were making my coon hound very ill..Thank goodness I noticed and stopped. Ill just make them at home now...not worth buying something just to watch them suffer.
Unfortunately Mike NOT only in China. Even if it were only in China, it's still too much sickening activity for the planet.
Never, never, never, NEVER buy pet treats from China...
Never buy any food products from China period. I had to give up my Mandarin oranges because that is the only place their grown.
I decided that I will not eat or get any product that one would eat of drink for me or my family(pet included)...They have no issues selling poisoned baby formula to their own people, so who knows what they would sell to other countries. And anytime pets get sick, the food always comes from China. Got enough to worry about with our owncorrupt food supply/govt regulation. In laws gave me a Margarita mix kit that was made in China...I said no thanks. Didn't even know they made margaritas in China.
They make everything in China. You can hardly buy any product that isn't made in China. If they don't care about their own people, do you think they care about people from other countries?
And can you imagine the conditions THEIR pigs must live in when the U.S. is not too concerned with how our food animals are kept?
It happens anywhere that business isn't regulated and subject to criminal action, like the capitalist utopia that some would like to see here in the U.S.
Notfiveo - agreed on the mandarin oranges. I quit cold turkey after discovering that they use human excrement for fertilizer.
Also, avoid Vietnamese farmed shrimp. They're fed ground up whole chickens that are raised in the midwestern USA and shipped to their farms.
Yeee-uck.
This is what happens with little regulations and NO EPA to protect them. And Republicans want to kill the EPA!
This was my first thought as well. In their eagerness to deride everything the government does the Republicans ignore the fact that many government services do actually serve the greater good. I always have to wonder when they are discussing removing regulations if they ever look to China.
Cut the scared little school-girl BS you 2 !
baliman, Koch industries have destroyed entire towns with their pollution and you call it scared BS? I happen to live in a beautiful town where Koch wants to dump more dioxin into the waterways. While AFP stokes fear in its Tea Party network about the supposed economic and libertarian disaster of reducing pollution, Koch's lawyers and contractors flood the Obama administration with submissions challenging proposed rules so that it can keep pumping out pollution for free. Here are just a few of the health and environmental rules that Koch Industries and its many subsidiaries are challenging:
Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC, the Koch Industries fertilizer subsidiary, is challenging the disclosure of unit-specific or facility-specific greenhouse pollution, calling it "misguided." [Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0508]
Flint Hills Resources, LP, the Koch Industries oil and gas subsidiary which operates six major hazardous air pollutant facilities, is protesting EPA's proposed national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants from industrial boilers.[Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058]
Flint Hills Resources "supports the elimination of all crude oil data reporting requirements" for greenhouse pollution compliance.[Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0109]
Perhaps the most absurd of all....Georgia Pacific, the Koch Industries forestry product subsidiary, claims that dioxins aren't really toxic or carcinogenic.[Docket EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-0395]
Invista, a Koch Industries chemical subsidiary, argues that chemical plant greenhouse pollution should not be monitored.[Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0508]
1 Word....Ethanol
With EPA protection, America has Love Canal, contaminated nuke Hanfort, TVA, poisoned Lake Erie, Dioxin laced forest in Washington/Oregon, contaminated water supply due to MTBE in California, pools of DDT sitting off the coast of Southern California, carcinogen drilling mud buried beneath the slab of homes, BP Gulf oil spill, ...etc. EPA has done little to eliminate polluters. There are more Superfund sites today than the 70s when EPA was created. That's because of the 'revolving door,' fornification with the industry, and massive political corruption.
Big Government is the problem, not the solution.
Koch Brothers: I believe these are some of their consumer products. Georgia Pacific, Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Brawny, Dixie Cups.
Tmmy, Please identify one of the entire towns Koch Industries has " destroyed". .....I did'nt think so.
Hmmmmmm, looks like one of the Koch "bitches" is on here now!
No one wants to eliminate the EPA just rein in their out of control power. Not to mention this matter would fall under the USDA in our country. As Rush would say, another low information voter.
WallStFatCat (name wouldn't indicate any bias now, would it?)), Lake Erie was poisoned a long time ago and was cleaned up with the aid of the EPA, it now has some great Walleye and Smallmouth fishing, I know a few people who have fished there for years, eat their catch, and haven't died or developed a 3rd eye as of yet. Those of you telling us that an unfettered Corporate America will still be ethically motivated and concerned about our welfare, and that of our children and grandchildren, in their drive for profits, please do the country a favor: shove some pepper up your nose, bend over, stick your head you-know-where, and blow your brains out. Sorry to be so blunt, but I want my kids and grandkids to inherit a safe country, not a duplicate of China.
Oh Geez, as if Rush is a fount of morality, wisdom and intelligence. Anybody who takes that windbag seriously has a mental disorder or is taking the same pills he is.
I laughed when they quoted Rush and raygunraegan (the government is the problem not the solution) as if either one knew what they were talking about. Two of the worlds dumbest individuals.
Greedy Republicans want to cut big government while corrupt Democrats want kick backs to get things done. So how are we any different then China?
Fools Rush in where angels fear to tread. Quoted by numerous authors.
Wall Street FatCat:
Love Canal is what brought the EPA to the forefront.. They figure it would take an EPA workforce of 100,000 to properly inspect every large corporation that has the potential of polluting and it usually isn't after the fact that super fund projects are discovered. WE Energies buys pollution credits from one company in order to pollute more on their end. What's a few hundred thousand dollars if they can spew more carcinogens into the air and not have to filter/clean them. The laws need to have the loopholes eliminated.
Sadly, super fund project tabs are rarely paid for by the corporations that did the polluting. Exxon and BP were finally held to account for their polluting the oceans but that was due to the fact that the countries bordering those oceans would have had a hissy fit. No one is held accountable for polluting the streams that lead to the rivers that lead to the lakes that lead to the oceans. Corporate GREED my friend. Plain and simple. No cost to the stockholder of the company, just the taxpayer of the country.
We need more stringent laws, we don't need to remove the existing.
Solution: Companies will be permitted to ignore existing environmental protections and their loathsome, job-killing nature, within the walls of their own buildings. Any release outside of those buildings will still be government regulated. The company, however MUST show evidence those same buildings are actively, physically occupied by senior management. Providing false or misleading evidence of this occupation will be punishable by 10 years imprisonment... in said building.
Yes chinese citizens, your government does not care about you or protect you unless you are a billionaire. Then you are the government. china is a ruined country.
Something like here you are not alone
as if we don't have a ruined country...show me one that is not!
Mhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcine_circovirusore than likely destined for wallyworld.
Porcine circovirus DNA identified in human vaccine
On 22 March 2010, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) health authorities recommended doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, due to findings of viral DNA contamination.[7] An independent academic research team in San Francisco identified porcine circovirus-1 DNA in two lots of Rotarix, and follow-up work by GlaxoSmithKline confirmed the contamination in working cells and the viral "seed" used Rotarix production, also confirming the material was likely present since the early stages of product development, including the clinical trials for FDA approval.[8]
Testing of the other licensed vaccine against rotavirus infection, RotaTeq, has also detected some components of both PCV-1 and PCV-2.[9] Porcine circovirus 1 is not known to cause disease in humans or other animals.[7][8]
As of 8 June 2010, FDA has, based on a careful review of a variety of scientific information, determined it is appropriate for clinicians and public health professionals in the United States to use both Rotarix and RotaTeq vaccine.[10]
Regretfully for want of the big bucks from American Corporations who need them to build things cheaply, they are signing their own death warrants.
Question is... with the pigs...did the disease cause their death, death by drowning, or death by horrifically contaminated river? Those pigs couldn't win.
I have now learned to pay attention to canned goods. My dog was on a pumpkin diet for a while after surgery. I went cheap and purchased a generic brand. The first can I opened was closer to burgundy in color. Several weeks later, I happened to notice there was a recall of pumpkin out East that was from the same distributor. After a few emails I found out that the pumpkin I purchased was also recalled but that didn't make it into the paper. Turns out the pumpkin was from China. Little teeny words. Product of China.
There was a push by several businesses last year to ask that they remove the requirement that states where the product came from. That it could result in BIASED sales losses. Darn right it would. I'd never knowingly purchase any FOOD product that came from China. The pollution there scares the ... out of me.
Scary, isn't it?
I just now quit eating pork.
inMYday, I didn't totally quit, but I slowed a lot after I heard a 1000+ lb pig killed and ate a man about a year ago. All they found left was his dentures. I'm not going to promote a product that will eat me if given a chance.
well if we treat animal inhumanely...what do you expect to happen...
those poor pigs...
this world needs to stop using pesticides and frankstiening our food...why not just grow it naturally! duh
And stop treating the animals we eat inhumanely
I am a smart one...I look at the fine brands I grew up with and buy with confidence. Then I looked at my Del Monte fruit cups....product of China. So I picked up a really fine brand...DOLE. Looked at the fine print...MADE IN CHINA!
So, I am not so smart...but I am getting smarter. Our trusted brands have sold out to china just like so many others. I went to Home Depot and had a hell of a time finding any USA tools. Finally had to settle for China screw drivers. We are owned.
It's a plan to ensure the radical Taliban do not wash their feet in the river! Swine flu, anyone? Oh, it's time for my "Oinkment!" See- ya!
I was hoping this was an article about crooked cops who double-crossed the wrong guys.
Concerned about the environment? Stop breeding like rabbits.
Agree, education is the only cure, to bad most men think with there little head. Also religion really screwed things up, what god would let a species over run an entire planet? Most peoples warped opinion from a god that's invisible.
Agree, over-population is probably the biggest overall threat by humankind, on humankind. Catch-22 is, as the reasonable have fewer, or no kids, that leaves more and more percentage of the idiots who see nothing wrong with breeding like rabbits.
Another place I don't want to visit.
The last days for real yall!
The good thing is that China has strict gun control so when the people rise up from discontent they can easily be crushed into submission. Coming to your State soon.
The people who fought the current Chinese government with guns are pretty much all dead. The few that weren't are living in different countries. The slow change in China towards capitalism, and easing of restrictions is due to greed, increasing connectedness to the rest of the world, and non-violent protests of their citizens. It's fun to think you can go all cowboy and just get your way, but China don't play that.
Americans QUIT BUYING from CHINA......
What is really funny is that China stopped us pork imports and wants it tested for feed additives. Beijing maintains that there are serious concerns about ractopamine, despite scientific evidence that it is safe. The United Nations has agreed on acceptable levels. They are trying to protect their domestic industry. So I guess it's sick pigs or nothing in China.
At least they're poisoning themselves instead of us and our pets.
Yeah, but there's over a billion of them. When they've finally had enough, they will try coming here, where the land is still relatively clean and pure.
That's when it will get ugly.
I thought I'd be reading about an entire Police Department that was murdered for not enforcing the oppressive Chinese government's laws.
Instead it's just their families.
Chinas success will be their downfall. They are the most polluted country air and water in the world. Three cheers for Chinas success. May their pollution and unsafe water hurry their demise.
The US government would go in(because big money needs cheap, overseas labor)and stick a big band-aid on it, costing billions to the US taxpayer. We wouldn't FIX it, but keep the flow of cheap goods going to WalMart. That has become the "american" way anymore. :-( I could seriously believe WalMart having a consulate like any other country.
I certainly hope one of them wasn't Michelle!
Whatever, troll. Dumb much?
Pat G is a POS!!!
Are you kidding ????? Those people eat anything and everything Total disgusting that's what you get when you live in and over populated environment they are like savages. I just can't see them throwing any part of anything that can be eaten UGH!!!
SAVAGES, hmmmm. Seems to be that is what the Europeans called the American Indians. And who brought the disgusting habits including the PIGS over here? Yep, you guessed right! Twas the Europeans. And you know what? They will eat every disgusting part of that animal. Even want to transplant its HEART into their bodies...Guess we found out who the SAVAGE is...
Only in the US are we so above things that we don't want to eat entrails, tongues, livers, gizzards, blood sausage, oh wait... WE DO. That is what is so great about this country. The melding of the various cultures.
Yeah. "Savages." OK, Marie Antoinette. Spoken like a true, spoiled, middle-class Westerner.
Yeah, they do eat a lot of stuff I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, but many Chinese think we're pretty disgusting for eating cheese and most other dairy products. "You squeeze some white liquid from the giant, bulbous glands hanging off an animal known for being covered with it's own feces, and then feed it to your children?"
Better live it up while you can: Chinese are growing a taste for beef and higher skilled jobs...
More Spam, first success, then production, then pollution, then safe drinking water, then all the fish and oysters die.
Try and find something NOT made in china. It is very difficult. Everything that is made there is crap! Even if you buy something from a reputable store it is still made in China! Such as furniture. As far as food products go, I look at everything I buy to make sure nothing comes from China. I would rather pay more and buy something made in USA, but it is not easy. The dead pigs in the river really brings up a red flag, it can't be good!
Note to self.. ."Never consume anything from China... "
Too late, Americas one of its biggest consumers
Note: Make sure to read every grocery item I buy.. do not buy anything from China!
Send Al Gore to China to clean up China's air.. we now know where the real pollution
is coming from. And maybe he can help them with the pig water! Of course China must
know he will charge them millions!
Another outpouring self righteous angst from the loony left hysterics.
Mmmmm...bacon...in a food group of it's own.
As a joke to myself, I wonder how much raw food (meat, vegetables, rice) that is brought into a "Chinese" restuarant come from other countries?
I’m sure it’s just a test the governments doing to see how they cope with a people deserter! After all a pig no matter what they say; is similar to humans in diseases they carry and organ size!
But then this could be the government’s way of seizing land from a populated populous without relocation!